Systems and methods for maximizing a rewards accumulation strategy during transaction processing

ABSTRACT

Facilitating commercial transactions using a payment system directory are disclosed. A payment directory and/or wireless point of sale (POS) device may be configured to use predetermined rules, a multitude of data items and/or conditions to locate a payment system, and transmit a payment authorization request from a remote location to at least one payment system, either directly, or via a payment system directory and/or a SSL Gateway.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part application of, and claimsthe benefit of, U.S. application Ser. No. 12/353,030. The '030application claims priority to U.S. Pat. No. 7,475,808 issued on Jan.13, 2009. The '808 patent claims priority to U.S. Pat. No. 7,426,492issued on Sep. 16, 2008. The '492 patent claims priority to and thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/163,824, filed Nov.5, 1999, and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/164,075, filedNov. 5, 1999. All of these applications are incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention generally relates to commercial transactions, and moreparticularly, to the facilitation of commercial transactions by locatinga payment system for authorizing at least a portion of the transaction.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Merchants are increasingly conducting transactions at remote locations.Some examples of these merchants include taxis, home delivery merchants(e.g., pizza, grocery, etc.), shuttle services, vendors at sportingevents or concerts, expositions (e.g., home and garden, RV, gun show,boats, autos, etc.), and the like. A customer making purchases from amerchant at a remote location often prefers to use a transactioninstrument (e.g., a credit card, charge card, debit card, RFID, etc.)when making such a purchase at the remote location. In addition,merchants conducting business at a remote location would likely preferto request and receive payment authorization from a financialinstitution prior to completing the transaction to ensure payment and/orreduce the chance of fraud. Merchants may also prefer to convenientlylocate and use a particular payment system.

A hurdle that often impedes commercial transactions occurring at remotelocations, and involving payment with a transaction instrument, is thata means for the merchant to access financial institutions and obtainrapid payment authorization from the financial institution for thetransaction is generally unavailable. For example, unlike theconventional “brick and mortar” stores, in the case of a typicaltransaction occurring at a remote location involving the purchase ofgoods and/or services with a transaction instrument, merchants currentlymanually record the account number of the transaction instrument, eitherby hand on a sheet of paper or with an imprint device, and generallymust request payment authorization for the transaction at a later time.Some merchants may also obtain authorization using a “card not present”transaction, wherein the merchant may obtain a verbal authorization bycalling from a cell phone or type certain information (account number,expiration date, etc) into a keypad.

In other situations, the merchant may be able to input accountinformation into an electronic device at the remote location. However,the electronic device merely stores the information without the abilityto request and/or receive rapid payment authorization from a financialinstitution (e.g. via a payment system) while the customer is stillpresent and/or while the device is located and the remote location.Here, the merchant usually either transfers the information from theelectronic device to another electronic device or must connect theelectronic device to another electronic device prior to transmitting arequest for and/or receiving payment authorization from a financialinstitution for the transaction. Thus, a merchant is currently not ableto easily request payment authorization from a remote location, and iscurrently unable to receive payment authorization from the financialinstitution at a remote location, such receipt of authorization beingrapid or otherwise.

In addition, a merchant may currently be required to pay a higher “cardnot present” fee since the financial institution is without means toverify the actual transaction instrument was presented to the merchantfor the transaction in addition to the increased risk of being defraudedby, for example, receiving a transaction instrument for a closedaccount, an account that lacks sufficient funds or available credit, ora stolen transaction instrument. Similarly, the customer's accountnumber is also susceptible to fraudulent use since the account numbermay be documented elsewhere besides on the transaction instrument itself(e.g., a sheet of paper kept by the merchant), and is capable of beingmisused by a dishonest employee of the merchant or somehow falling intothe hands of a dishonest person.

Significantly, the foregoing factors frequently adversely impact both anindividual user's and a merchant's willingness to engage in commercialtransactions involving the use of a transaction instrument at a remotelocation. Thus, the volume of transactions for exchanging monetary valuemay be overall reduced. As mentioned, these losses may be due either tothe individual purchaser's and/or merchant's apprehension regardingacceptance of the risks associated with payments involving transactioninstruments at remote locations or the individual seller's inability toprocess transaction instruments at the remote location. Consequently,there is a need for methods and systems to enable remote merchants andcustomers to request and receive payment authorization in exchange forgoods, services, or other value purchased at remote locations in asecure manner. There is also a need for methods and systems to enableremote merchants to receive payment authorization immediately and/orprior to completion of a commercial transaction conducted at a remotelocation. In addition, there is a need for methods and systems to enablemerchants and purchasers to communicate confidential information to andfrom a financial institution and/or payment system without risking abreach in the security of such information.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention includes a method to facilitate a purchase transaction byreceiving payment information related to a transaction and locating atleast one candidate payment system for processing at least a portion ofthe transaction by accessing a payment directory. In variousembodiments, the invention may include a merchant point of service(POS), a merchant system, a payment directory computer, a plurality ofpayment systems, a purchaser, and/or a purchaser transaction device.

In one embodiment, a payment directory facilitates a purchasetransaction in response to a decline or partial payment authorization.The method may include: receiving, at a payment directory computer, apayment request for a transaction; determining, by the payment directorycomputer, a first payment system for processing at least a portion ofthe transaction; transmitting, by the payment directory computer to thefirst payment system, a first authorization request related to at leasta portion of the transaction; receiving, at the payment directorycomputer from the first payment system, a first authorization responseassociated with the first authorization request; and, in response to thefirst authorization response indicating at least one of a decline or apartial authorization, the payment directory computer determining asecond payment system for processing at least a portion of thetransaction; transmitting to the second payment system a secondauthorization request related to at least a portion of the transaction;receiving from the second payment system a second authorization responseassociated with the second authorization request; and, transmitting apayment response based upon the payment request and at least one of thefirst authorization response or the second authorization response.

In an embodiment, determining the payment systems comprises querying apayment system directory. In an embodiment, the querying the paymentsystem directory comprises transmitting a payment directory request tothe payment system directory with at least one selection parameter,wherein the selection parameter is associated with at least one of anaccount owner associated with the payment request or a merchantassociated with the transaction, wherein the payment system directoryparses the payment directory request, creates a query based upon theparsed payment directory request and executes the query against apayment system database. In an embodiment, a similar method may beperformed by a point of service device.

In one embodiment, a payment directory facilitates a purchasetransaction that involves splitting the payment across two transactionaccounts. In one embodiment, a payment directory facilitates a purchasetransaction that involves determining a payment account and/or a paymentsystem based upon budget information. In one embodiment, a paymentdirectory facilitates a purchase transaction that involves determining apayment system based upon a rewards account. In one embodiment, apayment directory facilitates a purchase transaction that involvesdetermining a payment account and/or a payment system based upon arewards accumulation strategy. In one embodiment, a payment directoryfacilitates a purchase transaction that involves determining asupplemental account for funding a transaction. In one embodiment, apayment directory facilitates a purchase transaction by determining apayment system based upon a characteristic of a purchaser transactiondevice (e.g. a mobile device). In one embodiment, a purchasertransaction device communicates with a payment directory.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Additional aspects of the present invention will become evident uponreviewing the non-limiting embodiments described in the specificationand the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures,wherein like numerals designate like elements, and:

FIG. 1 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a prior art system forconducting a commercial transaction between parties who are remotelylocated from one another;

FIGS. 2-4 are schematic block diagrams illustrating exemplarytransaction systems in accordance with various aspects of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary transactionmechanism in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart representing an exemplary commercial transactionin accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an exemplary transactional mechanism inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of the process flow for an exemplarytransaction system in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic relational diagram associating exemplary actorsand exemplary transaction processes in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 10 is an exemplary interface for facilitating user registrationwith the transaction mechanism;

FIG. 11 is an exemplary interface for facilitating user login with thetransaction mechanism;

FIG. 12 is an exemplary interface for facilitating transactioninitiation;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart representing an exemplary seller-initiatedtransaction;

FIG. 14 is an exemplary interface for facilitating the entry oftransaction information by a user;

FIG. 15 is an exemplary interface depicting an exemplary transactioninvoice;

FIG. 16 is an exemplary interface for informing a user of thecancellation of a transaction;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart representing an exemplary purchaser transactionconfirmation;

FIG. 18 is an exemplary interface for facilitating the entry oftransaction information by a user;

FIGS. 19A and 19B represent an exemplary interface depicting anexemplary transaction invoice;

FIG. 20 is an exemplary interface for informing a user of thenon-acceptance of a transaction;

FIG. 21 illustrates an exemplary transaction mechanism in accordancewith various aspects of the present invention; and

FIG. 22 represents an exemplary system for processing the submission offinancial transactions.

FIG. 23 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system tofacilitate purchasing an item using one or more payment systems.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system tofacilitate purchasing an item using a payment system directory.

FIG. 25 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system tofacilitate purchasing an item using a payment system directory and agateway.

FIG. 26 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method to facilitatepurchasing an item using the system of FIG. 23.

FIG. 27 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method to facilitatepurchasing an item using the system of FIG. 24.

FIG. 28 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method to facilitatepurchasing an item using the system of FIG. 25.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The system and method may be described herein in terms of functionalblock components, screen shots, optional selections and variousprocessing steps. It should be appreciated that such functional blocksmay be realized by any number of hardware and/or software componentsconfigured to perform the specified functions. For example, the systemmay employ various integrated circuit components, e.g., memory elements,processing elements, logic elements, look-up tables, and the like, whichmay carry out a variety of functions under the control of one or moremicroprocessors or other control devices. Similarly, the softwareelements of the system may be implemented with any programming orscripting language such as C, C++, Macromedia Cold Fusion, MicrosoftActive Server Pages, Java, COBOL, assembler, PERL, Visual Basic, SQLStored Procedures, extensible markup language (XML), with the variousalgorithms being implemented with any combination of data structures,objects, processes, routines or other programming elements. Further, itshould be noted that the system may employ any number of conventionaltechniques for data transmission, signaling, data processing, networkcontrol, and the like. Still further, the system could be used to detector prevent security issues with a client-side scripting language, suchas JavaScript, VBScript or the like. For a basic introduction ofcryptography and network security, see any of the following references:(1) “Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, And Source Code In C,”by Bruce Schneier, published by John Wiley & Sons (second edition,1995); (2) “Java Cryptography” by Jonathan Knudson, published byO'Reilly & Associates (1998); (3) “Cryptography & Network Security:Principles & Practice” by William Stallings, published by Prentice Hall;all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

It should be appreciated that the particular implementations shown anddescribed herein are illustrative of the invention and its best mode andare not intended to otherwise limit the scope or the present inventionin any way. Indeed, for the sake of brevity, conventional datanetworking, application development, and other functional aspects of thesystems (and components of the individual operating components of thesystems) may not be described in detail herein. Furthermore, theconnecting lines shown in the various figures contained herein areintended to represent exemplary functional relationships and/or physicalcouplings between the various elements. It should be noted that manyalternative or additional functional relationships or physicalconnections may be present in a practical electronic transaction system.

It will be appreciated that many applications could be formulated. Oneskilled in the art will appreciate that the network may include anysystem for exchanging data or transacting business, such as theInternet, an intranet, an extranet, WAN, LAN, satellite communications,and/or the like. The users may interact with the system via any inputdevice such as a keyboard, mouse, kiosk, personal digital assistant,handheld computer (e.g., Palm Pilot®), cellular phone, magstripe readerand/or the like. Similarly, the invention could be used in conjunctionwith any type of personal computer, network computer, workstation,minicomputer, mainframe, or the like running any operating system suchas any version of Windows, Windows NT, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows98, Windows 95, MacOS, OS/2, BeOS, Linux, UNIX, or the like. Moreover,although the invention is frequently described herein as beingimplemented with TCP/IP communications protocols, it will be readilyunderstood that the invention could also be implemented using IPX,Appletalk, IP-6, NetBIOS, OSI, or any number of existing or futureprotocols. Moreover, the system contemplates the use, sale, ordistribution of any goods, services, or information over any networkhaving similar functionality described herein. The invention alsocontemplates uses in association with web services, utility computing,pervasive and individualized computing, security and identity solutions,autonomic computing, commodity computing, mobility and wirelesssolutions, open source, biometrics, grid computing and/or meshcomputing.

“Entity” may include any individual, consumer, customer, group,business, organization, government entity, transaction account issuer orprocessor (e.g., credit, charge, etc), merchant, consortium ofmerchants, customer, account holder, charitable organization, software,hardware, and/or any other entity.

A “transaction account” may include any account that may be used tofacilitate a financial transaction. A financial institution ortransaction account issuer includes any entity that offers transactionaccount services to customers. Although often referred to as a“financial institution,” the financial institution may represent anytype of bank, lender or other type of card issuing institution, such ascredit card companies, card sponsoring companies, or third party issuersunder contract with financial institutions. It is further noted thatother participants may be involved in some phases of the transaction,such as an intermediary settlement institution, but these participantsare not shown.

A “customer” may include any entity that has a TXA with a TXA issuer.

A “merchant” may include any entity that receives payment or otherconsideration. For example, a merchant may request payment for servicesrendered from a customer who holds an account with a TXA issuer.

A “financial processor” or “payment system” may include any entity whichprocesses transactions, issues accounts, acquires financial information,settles accounts, conducts dispute resolution regarding accounts, and/orthe like.

Each participant may be equipped with a computing system to facilitateonline commerce transactions and/or transactions including the use of aSSL Gateway (discussed below). The customer may have a computing unit inthe form of a personal computer, although other types of computing unitsmay be used, including laptops, notebooks, hand held computers, set-topboxes, and the like. The merchant may have a computing unit implementedin the form of a computer-server, although other implementations arepossible.

The financial institution may have a computing center shown as a mainframe or host computer. However the financial institution computingcenter may be implemented in other forms, such as a mini-computer, a PCserver, a network set of host computers, and/or the like. In addition,the computing center may comprise a payment system accessible via theInternet and/or a SSL Gateway. A payment system may include any systemor entity which processes information or transactions, issues accounts,acquires financial information, settles accounts, conducts disputeresolution regarding accounts, and/or the like. Furthermore, the paymentsystem may be configured to receive and process payment authorizationrequests, and transmit payment authorizations and payment rejections.The payment system may incorporate various rules and/or algorithms todetermine whether sufficient funds and/or sufficient available creditexist(s) in a customer's account.

The computing units may be connected with each other via a datacommunication network. The network may be a public network and assumedto be insecure and open to eavesdroppers. In the illustratedimplementation, the network may be embodied as the Internet. In thiscontext, the computers may or may not be connected to the Internet atall times. For instance, the customer computer may employ a modem tooccasionally connect to the Internet, whereas the financial institutioncomputing center might maintain a permanent connection to the Internet.It is noted that the network may be implemented as other types ofnetworks, such as an interactive television (ITV) network.

The merchant computer and the bank computer may be interconnected via asecond network, referred to as a payment network. The payment networkwhich may be part of certain transactions represents existingproprietary networks that presently accommodate transactions for creditcards, debit cards, and other types of financial/banking cards. Thepayment network is a closed network that is assumed to be secure fromeavesdroppers. Exemplary transaction networks may include the AmericanExpress®, VisaNet® and the Veriphone® networks.

The electronic commerce system may be implemented at the customer andissuing financial institution. In an exemplary implementation, theelectronic commerce system is implemented as computer software modulesloaded onto the customer computer and the financial institutioncomputing center. The merchant computer does not necessarily require anyadditional software to participate in the online commerce transactionssupported by the online commerce system.

An “account”, “account number”, “transaction account identifier” or“transaction instrument”, as used herein, may include any device, code,number, letter, symbol, digital certificate, smart chip, digital signal,analog signal, biometric or other identifier/indicia suitably configuredto allow the consumer to access, interact with or communicate with thesystem (e.g., one or more of an authorization/access code, personalidentification number (PIN), Internet code, other identification code,and/or the like). The account number may optionally be located on orassociated with a rewards card, charge card, credit card, debit card,prepaid card, telephone card, embossed card, smart card, magnetic stripecard, bar code card, transponder, radio frequency card or an associatedaccount. The system may include or interface with any of the foregoingcards or devices, or a fob having a transponder and RFID reader in RFcommunication with the fob. Although the present invention may include afob embodiment, the invention is not to be so limited. Indeed, systemmay include any device having a transponder which is configured tocommunicate with RFID reader via RF communication. Typical devices mayinclude, for example, a key ring, tag, card, cell phone, wristwatch orany such form capable of being presented for interrogation. Moreover,the system, computing unit or device discussed herein may include a“pervasive computing device,” which may include a traditionallynon-computerized device that is embedded with a computing unit. Examplescan include watches, Internet enabled kitchen appliances, restauranttables embedded with RF readers, wallets or purses with imbeddedtransponders, etc.

An account number may be distributed and stored in any form of plastic,electronic, magnetic, radio frequency, wireless, audio and/or opticaldevice capable of transmitting or downloading data from itself to asecond device. A customer account number may be, for example, asixteen-digit credit card number, although each credit provider has itsown numbering system, such as the fifteen-digit numbering system used byAmerican Express. Each company's credit card numbers comply with thatcompany's standardized format such that the company using asixteen-digit format will generally use four spaced sets of numbers, asrepresented by the number “0000 0000 0000 0000”. The first five to sevendigits are reserved for processing purposes and identify the issuingbank, card type, etc. In this example, the last (sixteenth) digit isused as a sum check for the sixteen-digit number. The intermediaryeight-to-ten digits are used to uniquely identify the customer. Amerchant account number may be, for example, any number or alpha-numericcharacters that identifies a particular merchant for purposes of cardacceptance, account reconciliation, reporting, or the like.

In yet another embodiment, a POS device, a merchant system, atransaction device (e.g. a mobile device), etc. are configured with abiometric security system that may be used for providing biometrics as asecondary form of identification. The biometric security system mayinclude a transponder and a reader communicating with the system. Thebiometric security system also may include a biometric sensor thatdetects biometric samples and a device for verifying biometric samples.The biometric security system may be configured with one or morebiometric scanners, processors and/or systems. A biometric system mayinclude one or more technologies, or any portion thereof, such as, forexample, recognition of a biometric. As used herein, a biometric mayinclude a user's voice, fingerprint, facial, ear, signature, vascularpatterns, DNA sampling, hand geometry, sound, olfactory,keystroke/typing, iris, retinal or any other biometric relating torecognition based upon any body part, function, system, attribute and/orother characteristic, or any portion thereof. For an explanation ofsystems and methods for providing a secondary form of identification fortransaction completion, please see U.S. Pat. No. 7,314,164 titled“SYSTEM FOR BIOMETRIC SECURITY USING A SMARTCARD” issued Jan. 1, 2008;U.S. Pat. No. 7,505,941 titled “METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR CONDUCTINGELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS USING BIOMETRICS” issued on Mar. 17, 2009; U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/552,886 titled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FORNON-TRADITIONAL PAYMENT USING BIOMETRIC DATA” filed on Oct. 25, 2006;all of which are herein incorporated by reference.

As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the presentinvention may be embodied as a method, a data processing system, adevice for data processing, and/or a computer program product.Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirelysoftware embodiment, an entirely hardware embodiment, or an embodimentcombining aspects of both software and hardware. Furthermore, thepresent invention may take the form of a computer program product on acomputer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program codemeans embodied in the storage medium. Any suitable computer-readablestorage medium may be utilized, including hard disks, CD-ROM, opticalstorage devices, magnetic storage devices, and/or the like.

The present invention is described below with reference to blockdiagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatus (e.g.,systems), and computer program products according to various aspects ofthe invention. It will be understood that each functional block of theblock diagrams and the flowchart illustrations, and combinations offunctional blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations,respectively, can be implemented by computer program instructions. Thesecomputer program instructions may be loaded onto a general purposecomputer, special purpose computer, or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus to produce a machine, Such that the instructionswhich execute on the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks.The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks.

Accordingly, functional blocks of the block diagrams and flowchartillustrations support combinations of means for performing the specifiedfunctions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions,and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. Itwill also be understood that each functional block of the block diagramsand flowchart illustrations, and combinations of functional blocks inthe block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, can be implemented byeither special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform thespecified functions or steps, or suitable combinations of specialpurpose hardware and computer instructions.

As background, FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary prior art method forconducting an online commercial transaction between individual users ofa distributed computer network, such as the Internet. Initially,individual users contact each other over the network and agree to theterms of a transaction (step 1). If the particular transaction is asales transaction involving goods, for example, the purchaser mails acheck, money order, or other suitable negotiable instrument to theseller (step 2). Once the seller receives the negotiable instrument, theseller deposits it with an appropriate financial institution, such as afinancial institution (step 3). When the financial institution clearsthe check through the seller's account, the seller is given access tothe funds (step 4). The seller then ships the goods to the purchaser(step 5), and the purchaser receives the goods (step 6). Generally, thisprocess involves an elapsed time of approximately two to three weeksbefore the seller receives “good funds” for the transaction, and threeto four weeks until the purchaser receives the goods. Moreover, thisprocess may include the purchaser disclosing his/her name and address tothe seller to effect the transaction, and the purchaser has little or norecourse if either the seller fails to deliver the goods as promised orthe goods are damaged or otherwise misrepresented.

The present invention comprises systems, methods, and computer programproducts for facilitating commercial transactions between remoteindividuals, wherein the transactions often include person-to-persontransfers of funds. In a preferred aspect, the present inventionfacilitates commercial transactions comprising sales transactionsconducted between remote individuals, such as transactions between usersof a distributed computer network. One skilled in the art willappreciate that the phrase “person-to-person transfers of funds”, asused herein, includes, for example, transfers from a financial accountof a first party, which may be an individual or an entity, to thefinancial account of a second party, which may be an individual or anentity. One skilled in the art further will appreciate that a “financialaccount” or “account” can include a card account, a demand depositaccount, a credit line, a money market account, a digital cash account,and/or any other financial account. Thus, a person-to-person transfer offunds can include card to card transfers of monetary value, card todemand deposit account (DDA) funds transfers, DDA to card transfers,card to credit line transfers, credit line to card transfers, and/or thelike. Moreover, funds transfers in accordance with the present inventioncan be between financial accounts held with either the same financialinstitution or different financial institutions. A “financialinstitution”, as will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in theart, can include any suitable third party, such as a financialinstitution, a card issuer, a lender, a credit union, and/or the like.

Further, as one skilled in the art will appreciate, a “transaction card”or “card”, as used herein, includes any device, code, or suitablefinancial instrument representing an account with a financialinstitution, such as a financial institution, a card issuer, and/or thelike, wherein the device, code, or other suitable financial instrumenthas a credit line or balance associated with it, and wherein the creditline or balance is in a form of a financial tender having discreteunits, such as currency. Moreover, a “transaction card” or “card”, asused herein, includes any device, code, or financial instrument suitablyconfigured to allow the cardholder to interact or communicate with thesystem, such as, for example, a charge card, credit card, debit card,prepaid card, telephone card, smart card, magnetic stripe card, bar codecard, authorization/access code, personal identification number (PIN),Internet code, other identification code, and/or the like. Additionally,a “cardholder” or “cardmember” includes any person or entity which usesa transaction card and participates in the present system and mayinclude a person who is simply in possession of a financial accountidentifier, such as an authorization or account code. Similarly, a“demand deposit account” may include any suitable financial account,such as a financial institution account (e.g., checking, savings, moneymarket, credit line, etc.) or other financial account maintained by athird party (such as a suitably insured financial institution), suchaccount preferably having a balance of substantially the same financialtender as the card.

Communication between the parties to the transaction and the system ofthe present invention is accomplished through any suitable communicationmeans (including wireless means), such as, for example, a telephonenetwork, Intranet, Internet, point of interaction device (point of saledevice, personal digital assistant, cellular phone, kiosk, etc.), onlinecommunications, off-line communications, wireless communications, and/orthe like. One skilled in the art will also appreciate that, for securityreasons, any databases, systems, or components of the present inventionmay consist of any combination of databases or components at a singlelocation or at multiple locations, wherein each database or systemincludes any of various suitable security features, such as firewalls,access codes, encryption, de-encryption, compression, decompression,and/or the like.

While a person-to-person transfer may generically be described as atransfer from the financial account of a first party to a financialaccount of a second party, for convenience and purposes of brevity andconsistency, the present disclosure generally refers to the first partyas the purchaser and the second party as the seller. However, it will berecognized by those of ordinary skill in the art that the seller neednot provide goods or services to the purchaser in exchange for thetransfer of funds. While this often may be the case, the presentdisclosure is not so limited and includes transactions which may begratuitous in nature, whereby the purchaser transfers funds from theirfinancial account to the financial account of the seller without theseller providing any goods, services, or other value in exchange.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, aperson-to-person funds transfer may be facilitated by any suitablefinancial institution, such as a card issuer like American Express®Company for example, which suitably provides credit risk analysis andfraud risk analysis in essentially real-time, unlike other card-basedfund transfer schemes which rely on third parties to facilitate suchservices. Utilization of third-party credit risk and fraud riskanalyses, such as used in conventional finds transfer schemes, not onlymay increase the amount of time to process the funds transfer, but alsomay jeopardize the security of confidential information associated withthe transaction due to the typical need for multiple transmissions ofthe relevant information. Furthermore, by reducing the participants inthe transaction and by enabling the card issuer to facilitate the fundstransfer, certain transaction fees and/or costs may be reduced oravoided entirely because the card issuer is positioned to profit fromthe increased card use, rather than simply profiting from the feesassociated with the manner in which the card is used by individualpurchasers.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, FIG. 2 is adiagram illustrating an exemplary transaction system 200. Thetransaction system 200 comprises a transaction mechanism or server 202which facilitates and controls commercial transactions between apurchaser 204 and a seller 206. In order to complete the funds transferfrom the financial account of the purchaser 204 to the financial accountof the seller 206, the transaction mechanism 202 communicates with atleast one of a seller's financial institution 208, which comprises asuitable financial account associated with the seller 206, and apurchaser's financial institution 210, which comprises a suitablefinancial account associated with the purchaser 204. In the case wherethe seller's financial account comprises a demand deposit account, forexample, the seller's account can include, for example, a financialinstitution account, such as a savings, checking, or money marketaccount associated with the seller 206. In an exemplary embodiment, thecommunication link between the transaction mechanism 202 and theseller's financial institution 208 can comprise a suitable connection toan automated clearinghouse (ACH) for facilitating financial institutionchecking account transfers, as is well-known to those in the industry.

In an exemplary embodiment, the purchaser's financial institution 210may comprise the transaction mechanism 202. In another exemplaryembodiment, transaction mechanism 202 is maintained by an independentthird party, such as an intermediary 314, as described more fully belowwith reference to FIG. 3. The communication links between and among thetransaction mechanism 202, purchaser 204, seller 206, seller's financialinstitution 208, and purchaser's financial institution 210 can beimplemented through one or more communications networks, such as aprivate extranet, a public Internet, and/or a third party extranet,though it will be recognized by those skilled in the art that othernetworks such as a public switch telephone network (PSTN) likewise maybe utilized. Moreover, although the present invention may be suitablyimplemented with TCP/IP protocols, it will be readily appreciated thatthe invention also can be implemented using IPX, Appletalk, IP-6,NetBIOS, OSI, or any number of other protocols either currently known orhereafter devised. Further, in another exemplary embodiment, purchaser204 and seller 206 are implemented by any suitable type of personalcomputer, point of interaction device, network computer, workstation,minicomputer, mainframe, and/or the like, which implementationpreferably includes a suitable browser application, such as a World WideWeb (Web) browser, preferably having suitable encryption capability.

In accordance with the present invention, it is preferred that eitherone or both of the purchaser 204 and seller 206 pre-register with thetransaction mechanism 202. However, as those skilled in the art willappreciate, a specific registration of the purchaser 204 and/or theseller 206 is not required and registration may take place at anysuitable time, including at the time of the transaction. Duringpurchaser registration, the purchaser 204 preferably provides suitablefinancial account information, such as card information for example, andsuitable purchaser identification information. In an exemplaryembodiment, the purchaser identification and/or account informationincludes any suitable information related to the purchaser and/or theaccount, such as any one or more of the following: name, address,demographic information, social security number, telephone number,account number, account expiration date, personal identification numberassociated with the account, date of birth, mother's maiden name,spending habit information, billing history information, credit historyinformation, and/or any additional information which might identity thepurchaser and the purchaser's financial account. The purchaseridentification information can be used for subsequent purchaserauthentication. During seller registration, the seller 206 preferablyprovides suitable financial account information and suitableidentification information relating to an account, such as anappropriate card or demand deposit account for example, at the seller'sfinancial institution 18. The seller's identification information can beused for subsequent authentication. In an exemplary embodiment, one orboth of the purchaser 204 and seller 206 are cardmembers or cardholdersof the card issuer which is providing the transaction mechanism 202,thereby expediting and streamlining the registration process and, inanother exemplary embodiment, subsequent authentication and credit/fraudanalysis processes performed by the transaction mechanism 202.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, a transaction 212 may be initiated by one ofeither the purchaser 204 or the seller 206. The transaction 212, whichis illustrated in phantom lines in order to represent that it isoptional, may comprise the exchange of goods, services, or other valuefrom the seller 206 to the purchaser 204 in exchange for a transfer offunds from the purchaser's financial account at the purchaser'sfinancial institution 210 to the seller's financial account at seller'sfinancial institution 208. However, it should be appreciated thattransaction 212 need not comprise an exchange of goods and/or services,but rather, may comprise a gratuitous transfer of funds from a purchaser204 to a seller 206. By way of example, the purchaser 204 may bepurchasing goods from the seller 206 which goods were identified througha classified ad, an Internet posting, an Internet auction, and/or thelike, or, alternatively, the purchaser 204 may be transferring funds tothe seller 206 for philanthropic, charitable, or other gift-givingpurposes. Thus, depending upon the nature of the transaction 212, one ofeither the purchaser 204 or the seller 206 will initiate the transfer offunds by suitably providing to the transaction mechanism 202 transactioninformation. The transaction information may include identificationinformation regarding one or both of the purchaser 204 and the seller206 as well as the terms of the transaction, which can include suitableaccount information, the date and time of the transaction, the amount ofthe funds transfer, a description of the goods, services, or othervalue, any escrow terms (such as a suitable escrow release event),and/or the like. In addition, requests for value-added services, such asinsurance, dispute resolution, postal tracking, and/or the like may bemade by one or both of the purchaser 204 and/or the seller 206.

The transaction mechanism 202 then suitably authenticates the seller 206and/or the purchaser 204 to ensure that they are the appropriate ownersof their respective accounts. In an exemplary embodiment, thetransaction mechanism 202 is provided by the purchaser's financialinstitution 210, such as the card issuer of a purchaser's card forexample, which financial institution is able to perform suitable riskmanagement functions, such as suitable credit risk and/or fraud riskanalyses for example. The ability of the transaction mechanism 202,through a suitable financial institution which preferably maintains andoperates the transaction mechanism 202, to perform credit risk and fraudrisk analyses is particularly advantageous, since performance of theseservices by a third party not only delays the transaction process butpresents an additional security risk when transmitting and processingconfidential or transaction-sensitive information to and from the thirdparty. Moreover, when the transaction mechanism 202 is provided by thepurchaser's financial institution 210, such as a card issuer,information such as historical transactional records, account records,and/or the like easily can be reviewed to determine whether a credit orfraud risk exists.

In another exemplary embodiment, the transaction mechanism 202 suitablydetermines whether the purchaser's financial account has a sufficientbalance to enable the funds transfer identified in the transactioninformation. If the purchaser 204 has sufficient funds available in thefinancial account, and suitable risk management and authenticationprocesses do not result in a negative determination, the transaction isdeemed acceptable. The transaction mechanism 202 then executes thetransaction by debiting the purchaser's Financial account and creditinga suitable escrow account maintained by the transaction mechanism 202.The funds debited from the purchaser's financial account preferablyremain in the escrow account for some predefined period of time. Thepredefined period or time may be based upon the occurrence of a suitablydefined escrow release event, such as any of the following events:receipt by the purchaser of the goods, services, or other value; thelapse of a predetermined period of time within which the purchaser mayevaluate the goods, services, or other value and either accept or refusedelivery; and/or any other suitable, predefined event. Preferably, thetransaction mechanism 202 withholds the funds from the seller'sfinancial account and suitably maintains the funds in the escrow accountpending the occurrence of the escrow release event. Debiting of theescrow account and crediting of the seller's financial account for theamount of the funds transfer occurs once the escrow release event hastranspired and the purchaser has not rejected the shipment.

In another exemplary embodiment, the transaction mechanism 202 may besuitably configured to include a transaction fee in the amount debitedfrom the purchaser's financial account, and/or the transaction mechanism202 may be suitably configured to subtract a transaction fee from theamount credited to the seller's financial account. In an exemplaryembodiment, the transfer of funds to the seller's financial account fromthe escrow account includes suitable communications with an ACH, as willbe appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art.

In an exemplary embodiment, the transaction mechanism 202 providesvalue-added services which may be requested by the purchaser 204 and/orthe seller 206 as a part of the transaction between the parties.Preferably, the value-added services may include insurance, disputeresolution, postal tracking, and/or similar services that potentiallyenhance the value of the transaction to the purchaser 204 and/or theseller 206. In the event that value-added services are requested by thepurchaser 204 as a part of the funds transfer, then the cost of suchservices is included in the amount of finds debited or deducted from thepurchaser's financial account. Likewise, the cost of value-addedservices requested by the seller 204 are suitably withheld or deductedfrom the funds credited or added to the seller's financial account.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, FIG. 3 is adiagram illustrating an exemplary transaction system 300. Thetransaction system 300 comprises an intermediary 314 which suitablyprovides an interface between the purchaser 304 and the seller 306. Theintermediary 314 can be any suitable third party. In an exemplaryembodiment, intermediary 314 can include an online auction such as eBay®or eWanted®, an online merchant such as Amazon.com®, an onlineclassified ad site, and/or the like. By way of example, if theintermediary 314 is eBay, the seller 306 may list goods for sale throughthe intermediary 314, for which a purchaser 304 may then submit bids.The intermediary 314 then suitably determines whether the purchaser 304submitted the highest bid and, if so, then makes a final saledetermination, which can include sending appropriate notice, such as bye-mail for example, to both the purchaser 304 and the seller 306. Oncenotified, the purchaser 304 is provided with the opportunity to selectmeans for submitting payment to the seller 306, such as through asuitable card or DDA. For example, by selecting the card payment method,transaction information regarding the sale is transferred byintermediary 314 to a suitable transaction mechanism 302 provided by asuitable financial institution, such as a card issuer

As described above with reference to FIG. 2, the seller 306 preferablyis pre-registered with the transaction mechanism 302, and the seller'sfinancial account at the seller's financial institution 308 may suitablyreceive appropriate funds transferred from the purchaser's financialaccount at the purchaser's financial institution 310. If the purchaser304 is not pre-registered, purchaser registration may take place at thetime of the transaction with the seller 306. As discussed above, thetransaction mechanism 302 receives transaction information regarding thesale, authenticates the purchaser 304 and the seller 306, and performssuitable credit and fraud risk management analyses. If the purchaser 304has sufficient funds available in their financial account and the riskmanagement and authentication processes do not result in a negativedetermination, then the transaction mechanism 302 deems the transactionacceptable and debits suitable funds from the purchaser's financialaccount. Preferably, as described above with reference to FIG. 2, asuitable escrow account maintained by the transaction mechanism 302 iscredited with the funds transferred from the purchaser's financialaccount. Upon the occurrence of a suitably predefined or pre-identifiedescrow release event, the escrow account is suitably debited and theseller's financial account is suitably credited with the funds. Again,as described above, any suitable transaction or service fees arepreferably included in the amount of funds debited and transferred fromthe purchaser's financial account and/or deducted from the amount offunds disbursed and credited to the seller's financial account.

As is often the case with an intermediary 314, such as eBay, thetransaction between the seller 306 and the purchaser 304 may involve theshipment of goods from the seller 306 to the purchaser 304.Consequently, as typically determined by the particular business rulesof the intermediary 314, the goods are shipped by a suitable shippingagent 316 from the seller 306 to the purchaser 304. Preferably, as apart of the escrow service performed by the transaction mechanism 302, atracking number will be provided by the shipping agent to thetransaction mechanism 302. Upon confirmation that the purchaser 304 hasreceived the goods, the transaction mechanism suitably transfers theappropriate finds to the seller's financial account. Preferably, theshipping agent 316 confirms that the purchaser 304 has received thegoods. More preferably, the transaction mechanism 302 only releases thefunds to the seller 306 upon the suitable occurrence of any predefinedescrow release event, such as the lapse of a specified period of time inwhich the purchaser 304 may evaluate and either accept or reject thegoods. In the case that the escrow release event is not satisfied orthat the purchaser 304 rejects the goods, the transaction may besuitably reversed or otherwise abandoned. In the event that there is adispute between a purchaser 304 and a seller 306 regarding a particulartransaction, the financial institution that maintains the transactionmechanism 302 may provide the parties with a suitable dispute resolutionmechanism, such as access to any suitable system for providing customerservice for example.

In an exemplary embodiment, anonymity or portions of anonymity betweenthe purchaser 304 and seller 306 is suitably maintained throughout thetransaction between the parties. One skilled in the art will appreciatethat any subset of information may remain anonymous. Preferably, theonly purchaser information that is transmitted and known to the seller306 is the purchaser's user identifier. Likewise, it is preferred thatthe purchaser's knowledge of the seller 306 is limited to the seller'suser identifier. In other words, both the purchaser 304 and the seller306 need not disclose their name, address, financial accountinformation, or any other confidential information to one another inorder to effect the transaction. In this embodiment, the purchaser 304and seller 306 suitably provide their name, address, financial accountinformation, and any other necessary information to the transactionmechanism 302 upon registering with the transaction mechanism 302. Inthis manner, the shipping agent 316 suitably obtains the relevantpurchaser shipping information from the transaction mechanism 302 toobviate any need for a seller 306 to have access to confidentialidentification information of a purchaser 304.

It should be understood that while FIG. 3 illustrates respectivecommunication links between the transaction mechanism 302 and both thepurchaser 304 and the seller 306, the scope of the present inventionextends to the transmission of information, such as registrationinformation, transaction information, and/or the like, from either orboth of the purchaser 304 and/or the seller 306 directly to theintermediary 314 and then from the intermediary 314 to the transactionmechanism 302. In other words, the intermediary 314 may mediate the flowof information from either/both the purchaser 304 and/or the seller 306to the transaction mechanism 302 without any direct communicationbetween the either the purchaser 304 or the seller 306 and thetransaction mechanism 302. Moreover, the intermediary 314 maycommunicate directly with the transaction mechanism 302 through asuitable communications link or, alternatively, the transactionmechanism 302 may be integrated with the intermediary 314, asillustrated in the exemplary transaction system 400 of FIG. 4. Inaccordance with this aspect of the present invention, the transactionmechanism 402, which is integrated with the intermediary 414, providessubstantially the same functionality as the exemplary transactionmechanisms described above with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3,respectively.

With reference to FIG. 5, an exemplary transactional mechanism 502includes a central processor 504 in communication with other elements ofthe transaction mechanism 502 through a system interface or bus 506. Asuitable display device/input device 508, such as a keyboard or pointingdevice in combination with a monitor, may be provided for receiving datafrom and outputting data to a user. A memory 510 associated with thetransaction mechanism 502 preferably includes a transactional controlmodule 512, a risk management module 514, and an authentication module516. The memory 510 preferably further includes an operating system 518which enables execution by processor 504 of the various softwareapplications residing at transaction control module 512, risk managementcontrol module 514, and authentication module 516. Operating system 518may be any suitable operating system, such as any version of Windows,MacOS, BeOS, Linux, UNIX, and/or the like. Preferably, a networkinterface 520 is provided for suitably interfacing with other elementsof the transaction system, such as the elements described above withreference to FIGS. 2-4. Lastly, a storage device 522, such as a harddisk drive for example, preferably contains suitable files which aresuitably accessed by the transaction control module 512, the riskmanagement module 514, and the authentication module 516.

In particular, customers' transaction records file 524 preferablycomprises transaction information of customers who are registered withthe transaction mechanism 502, which transaction information is used toperform suitable credit risk and fraud risk analyses. Likewise,customers' information records 526 comprises information received eitherfrom a purchaser or a seller upon registration with the transactionmechanism 502 or during the maintenance of the appropriate financialaccount. As used herein, a “customer” may be either a purchaser or aseller who has a financial account with the financial institution whichsuitably maintains the transaction mechanism 502 and who is registeredwith the transaction mechanism 502. Accordingly, providing thetransaction mechanism 502 with access to the appropriate transactionrecords and information records of the parties involved in the fundstransfer facilitates essentially real time risk management by the riskmanagement module 514. Similarly, authentication of the parties to thetransaction may likewise be performed efficiently by the authenticationmodule 516, which preferably has access to the records residing instorage device 522. One skilled in the art will appreciate that thestorage device 522 and, therefore, customer transaction records 524 andcustomer information records 526 may be co-located with the transactionmechanism 502, as illustrated in FIG. 5, or may be remotely located withrespect to the transaction mechanism 502. If the storage device 522 isremotely located with respect to the transaction mechanism 502,communication between storage device 522 and transaction mechanism 502may be accomplished by any suitable communication link but is preferablyaccomplished through a private Intranet or extranet.

Referring next to FIGS. 6 and 7, as discussed, the process flowsdepicted in these figures are exemplary embodiments of the inventiononly and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention asdescribed above. FIG. 6 is a flow diagram representing an exemplaryprocess for facilitating a commercial transaction between a purchaserand a seller. In accordance with the present invention, an exemplaryprocess executed by a suitable transaction mechanism may include any ofthe following: registering a purchaser with the transaction mechanism(step 602); registering a seller with the transaction mechanism (step604); receiving agreed upon transaction terms from at least one of apurchaser and a seller (step 606); receiving a purchaser's selection ofa method for transferring monetary value to a seller (step 608);receiving transaction information from at least one of a purchaser and aseller (step 610); performing authentication, credit risk, and/or fraudrisk analyses (step 612); determining whether the transaction isacceptable (step 614); terminating the transaction if the transaction isnot acceptable; debiting funds from a purchaser's financial account ifthe transaction is acceptable (step 616); holding the funds in an escrowaccount (step 618); releasing the finds from the escrow account anddisbursing the funds to the seller's financial account (step 620); andcrediting the funds to a seller's financial account (step 622).

In accordance with the present invention, any purchaser having afinancial account can transfer funds from the purchaser's financialaccount to the financial account of a second party. For example, apurchaser having a card can transfer funds from the purchaser's card tothe card or demand deposit account of any second party having such anaccount. As represented in FIG. 6 by step 602, the purchaser preferablypre-registers with a transaction mechanism, which transaction mechanismcan be established and maintained by any suitable third party, such as acard issuer, as described above with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. Toregister with the transaction mechanism, the purchaser may submitsuitable purchaser registration information, such as informationestablishing the identity of the purchaser and information regarding thepurchaser's financial account. The purchaser registration informationcan be suitably stored by the transaction mechanism, such as by storagedevice 522 of FIG. 5. The purchaser may communicate with the transactionmechanism by any means of communication known to those skilled in theart, including communications by telephone or through the use of anyform of computer or point of interaction device having a means forcommunication, such as a modem, suitable wireless means forcommunication, and/or the like. If the transaction mechanism ismaintained by the purchaser's financial institution, the purchaser cansuitably register with the transaction mechanism at the same time thatthe purchaser initially completes the application for the financialaccount. Alternatively, the purchaser can register with the transactionmechanism at any suitable time, including at the time of a transactionwith a seller.

The purchaser registration information which may be used by thetransaction mechanism can include any suitable information, such as anyof the types of information described above with reference to FIG. 2.Upon submission of such information to the transaction mechanism, thetransaction mechanism may then issue to the purchaser a unique useridentifier, such as an identification number, code, password, passphrase, and/or other suitable identifier which may be used by thetransaction mechanism to identify the purchaser. In this manner, thepurchaser's user identifier can be used by the transaction mechanism toidentify and suitably access the purchaser's registration information atthe time of a transaction between a purchaser and a seller. The useridentifier can comprise any number or combination of letters, digits, orother characters. If the transaction mechanism is accessible through theInternet, and especially if the purchaser registers with the transactionmechanism through an interface at an Internet Web page, the transactionmechanism or entity maintaining the transaction mechanism can e-mail theappropriate user identifier to the purchaser, optionally using anywell-known means for secure communications, such as suitable encryption.

As indicated at step 604, the seller preferably also registers with thetransaction mechanism. Although FIG. 6 illustrates the registration of aseller with the transaction mechanism subsequent to the purchaser'sregistration, the seller can register with the transaction mechanism atany suitable time, including prior to the purchaser's registration andat the time of the transaction with the purchaser. As with thepurchaser, the seller preferably provides the transaction mechanism withregistration information to identify the seller and to identify theseller's appropriate financial account, such as a card or a demanddeposit account, to which the transaction mechanism may transfer funds.The seller's registration information may include any suitableinformation, such as the seller's name, location or address, socialsecurity number (if appropriate), federal employer identificationnumber, financial account number, financial institution, and/or anyother suitable information that may be pertinent to a funds transfertransaction. If the seller is associated with the financial institutionthat is providing the transaction mechanism, the seller's registrationinformation can be suitably stored by the storage device shown in FIG.5. Furthermore, as with the purchaser, the seller suitably receives fromthe transaction mechanism a user identifier which identifies the sellerto the transaction mechanism. After the purchaser and seller areregistered with the transaction mechanism, as illustrated in steps 602and 604, the purchaser and seller can suitably agree upon the terms of atransaction, as shown in step 606.

The transaction illustrated in step 606 may be an exchange of goods orservices for value, although this is not required. The transaction, forexample, could include a transaction where the purchaser is gratuitouslytransferring funds from the purchaser's financial account to thefinancial account of the seller, thereby eliminating the need for areciprocal exchange. The purchaser and seller may enter into thetransaction through the Internet, such as where a purchaser seeks topurchase goods, services, or other value from an Internet Web siteoperated by the seller for example. Alternatively, the purchaser andseller can agree to enter into the transaction in a more conventionalmanner, such as through person-to-person communication over thetelephone or in person for example. The particular terms of thetransaction between the purchaser and the seller may include anysuitable terms that are agreeable to the parties and may address issuessuch as the nature of any goods, services, or other value; the amount ofthe finds that are to be transferred from the purchaser's financialaccount to the seller's financial account; the nature and definition ofany escrow release event; the anticipated date or window for delivery orshipment of any goods, services, or other value; and/or other suitableterms and conditions pertaining to the transaction.

After the purchaser and seller have agreed upon the terms of thetransaction, the purchaser may be requested to select a method fortransferring suitable funds to the seller, as indicated in step 608. Theselection of a method for transferring the necessary funds may becompleted through the transaction mechanism or, alternatively, throughany other suitable means and then suitably communicated to thetransaction mechanism. For instance, where the purchaser is purchasinggoods, services, or other value from an online seller via an InternetWeb site, the Web site, rather then the transaction mechanism, canrequest that the purchaser select a method of transferring monetaryvalue to the seller. After the purchaser suitably responds to the query,such as through a pop-up display generated by the Internet site, thepurchaser's response may be suitably communicated to the transactionmechanism. Alternatively, the purchaser can select a funds transfermethod directly through the transaction mechanism, which may occur inthe case where the particular Internet site does not request suchinformation but, rather, allows the transaction mechanism to issue therelevant query. Additionally, the latter circumstance may occur in thecase where a purchaser is transacting with a seller through a site whichmaintains the transaction mechanism, such as an online sales sitemaintained by a card issuer.

In addition to selecting a method for transferring funds to a seller,such as through a card or DDA transaction, the purchaser may also selectone or more value-added services, as indicated in step 608. For example,where the transaction mechanism is maintained by a card issuer, thepurchaser may be able to select value-added services provided by thecard issuer, such as purchaser's insurance, shipping alternatives (wherethe purchaser has purchased goods or, alternatively, services which maybe embodied in documents of any suitable type), postal trackingalternatives, dispute resolution to mediate any dispute that may arisebetween the purchaser and seller regarding the transaction, and/or thelike. It will be appreciated by those of skill in the art thatadditional value-added services may be offered by the seller in additionto those offered by the third party entity maintaining the transactionmechanism.

After selecting a funds transfer method and any value-added services,the purchaser and/or seller may provide suitable transaction informationto the transaction mechanism for authentication, credit risk analysis,and/or fraud risk analysis, as represented in step 610. The transactioninformation can include, but is not limited to, the amount of finds tobe transferred between the purchaser and seller, the date and time ofthe transaction, a description of the transaction, the purchaser's andseller's respective unique user identifiers, and any other pertinentinformation which may suitably identify the transaction as well as boththe purchaser and the seller. For example, the transaction informationcan include a date and time at which the transfer of funds should takeplace. In this manner, the purchaser and seller can indicate that thetransfer of funds can take place at a specific time in the future. Uponreceiving the transaction information, the transaction mechanism canlook-up and access the customer information records, which preferablyinclude at least one of the purchaser's and the seller's registrationand financial account information. As discussed above, this informationpreferably includes data such as the purchaser's financial accountidentifier and/or the seller's financial account identifier, as well asany additional information that has been suitably input in steps 602 and604, above.

Thereafter, as represented by step 612, the transaction mechanism maysuitably determine whether the transaction is acceptable. In anexemplary embodiment, one component of this determination utilizes thetransaction information and the purchaser and/or seller registrationinformation to execute a fraud analysis, as represented by step 614. Forexample, where the transaction mechanism is established and maintainedby a card issuer and the purchaser is a cardholder of a card issued bythe card issuer, the card issuer can maintain a history of thepurchaser's card transactions. Such card transaction history can besuitably stored along with the purchaser registration information in thecustomer information records or the customer transaction records, asdescribed above. Using this historical information, the risk managementmodule of the transaction mechanism can perform a fraud analysis byexecuting a fraud detection program or mechanism to determine whetherthe current transaction, or current transaction in view of recenttransactions, is indicative of fraud. For example, where a card has beenutilized to purchase multiple high-priced items, the fraud analysis mayflag the transaction such that the transaction mechanism will terminateor otherwise not permit the purchaser to complete the transaction. Thefraud detection mechanism may suitably end the transaction, asrepresented by the negative outcome of step 612, or, alternatively, mayquery the purchaser to determine whether the purchaser is actually theproper cardholder. In the case of terminating the transaction withoutpresenting further queries to the purchaser, the purchaser and/or theseller may be contacted through any suitable means, such as a real timedisplay, e-mail, telephone, and/or the like, to notify the purchaserand/or the seller that the transaction was not completed.

The transaction mechanism's determination regarding the acceptability ofthe transaction may suitably include a second component, namely a creditanalysis, as represented by step 615, which effects a comparison of theuser identifiers of either/both the purchaser and the seller with theuser identifiers stored in the storage device to determine whether thetransaction is acceptable. After suitably identifying the accounts ofthe parties entering into the transaction, the transaction mechanism maysuitably analyze whether the transaction is acceptable based uponadditional criteria. The analysis for determining transactionacceptability can be suitably implemented through a computer-readablestorage medium encoded with processing instructions, as described above.Such analysis can include a determination of whether the purchaser hassufficient credit or funds in the financial account to complete thetransaction. Additionally, in the event that the purchaser uses a cardto accomplish the funds transfer to the seller, the transactionmechanism may suitably terminate the transaction if it determines thatthe purchaser's card has expired, has been reported as lost or stolen,or is otherwise invalid. Where the transaction mechanism determines,through a program or any other suitable means, that the transactioncannot be completed properly, the transaction mechanism will notcomplete the transaction, as seen in the negative outcome of step 612.When a negative outcome occurs, the purchaser and/or the seller may becontacted through any suitable means, such as a real time display,e-mail, telephone, and/or the like, to notify the purchaser and/or theseller that the transaction was not completed and to provide particularreasons for the termination of the transaction.

Once a transaction is deemed to be acceptable, the transaction mechanismsuitably completes the transaction by debiting the purchaser's financialaccount, as represented by step 616. Preferably, the transactionmechanism then transfers the funds to a suitable escrow account andholds the funds in the escrow account until a suitable escrow releaseevent has transpired, as represented by step 618. Once the escrowrelease event has transpired, the funds are then released from theescrow account and disbursed to the seller's financial account, asrepresented by step 620. In accordance with the terms of the transactionas agreed to by the purchaser and the seller, the funds then aredisbursed to the seller's financial account and the seller's account issuitably credited with the funds, as represented by step 622. Thetransaction mechanism may automatically include any suitable transactionfees, as a service charge for the transaction, in the funds debited fromthe purchaser's financial account and/or may automatically deduct suchfees from the funds disbursed to the seller's financial account.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of the operation of an exemplary transactionmechanism in accordance with the present invention. As described abovewith reference to FIG. 6, the transaction mechanism preferably firstreceives registration information from the purchaser and the seller, asindicated by steps 702 and 704. Registration information may be enteredby a purchaser and/or a seller using any well-known input device, suchas a keyboard or mouse suitably connected to any type of computer whichcan suitably communicate with the transaction mechanism. Theregistration information may then be transmitted to the transactionmechanism either in real time or downloaded to the transaction mechanismafter the registration information is input by the purchaser and/or theseller.

Optionally, as is shown in step 706, the transaction mechanism mayreceive an indication that a transaction between a purchaser and aseller has been initiated. This indication may originate from either thepurchaser or the seller or, alternatively, from an intermediary, whichmay be unrelated to the entity which maintains the transactionmechanism. For example, a purchaser may choose to transfer funds usingan interface located at an intermediary's Web site. This type of fundstransfer might occur after the intermediary has suitably queried thepurchaser as to the purchaser's preferred funds transfer method, such asby issuing a query by using any of several conventional graphicalinterfaces or pop-up graphics that are well-known in the art.Alternatively, the seller may suitably initiate the transaction.

Thereafter, as represented by step 708, the transaction mechanismreceives suitable information regarding the purchaser's selected methodfor transferring funds to the seller, such as by a card or DDA forexample, and any selected value-added services, as described above. Thisstep may be facilitated by any suitable mechanism, such as a suitablenetwork connection, such as an Internet connection, or through anysuitable input device associated with the transaction mechanism.Preferably, at least one of the purchaser and the seller providessuitable transaction information to the transaction mechanism forauthentication, credit risk, and fraud risk analyses. Once thetransaction mechanism receives suitable transaction information, asrepresented by step 710 and as described in greater detail above, thetransaction mechanism suitably determines whether the transaction isacceptable, as represented by step 712. The fraud detection mechanismexecuted by the risk management module of the transaction mechanism thensuitably communicates with the customer transaction records and customerinformation records to determine whether the transaction represents apotential fraud risk, as represented by step 714 and as described ingreater detail above with reference to FIG. 6.

After the fraud detection mechanism has been executed, the transactionmechanism may then suitably perform a credit analysis, as represented bystep 715, to compare the user identifiers of either/both the purchaserand the seller to the user identifiers stored in the storage device inan additional effort to determine whether the transaction is acceptable.As described above with reference to FIG. 6, after suitably identifyingthe accounts of the parties entering into the transaction, thetransaction mechanism also may suitably determine whether the purchaserhas sufficient credit or funds in the financial account to complete thetransaction. Additionally, in the case that the purchaser uses a card toeffect the funds transfer to the seller, the analysis can furtherinclude a determination of whether the card has expired, has beenreported as lost or stolen, or is otherwise invalid. Where thetransaction mechanism determines, through a program or any othersuitable means, that the transaction cannot be completed properly, thetransaction mechanism will not complete the transaction, as seen in thenegative outcome of step 712. When a negative outcome occurs, thepurchaser and/or seller may be contacted through any suitable means,such as a real time display, e-mail, telephone, and/or the like, tonotify the purchaser and/or the seller that the transaction was notcompleted and to provide particular reasons for the termination of thetransaction.

Once the transaction is deemed acceptable, the transaction mechanismcompletes the transaction by debiting the purchaser's account, asrepresented by step 716. Preferably, the transaction mechanism thentransfers the finds to a suitable escrow account and holds the funds inthe escrow account until a suitable escrow release event has transpired,as represented by step 718. Once the transaction mechanism receivesinformation indicating that the escrow release event has transpired, asrepresented in step 720, the funds are then released from the escrowaccount and disbursed to the seller's financial account, as representedby step 722. The transaction mechanism also may automatically accountfor any suitable transaction fees, as a service charge for thetransaction, by suitably including any such fees in the funds debitedfrom the purchaser's financial account and/or by suitably deducting anysuch frees from the funds disbursed to the seller's financial account.

Referring now to FIG. 8, another exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention includes an auction intermediary 814, such as eBay, and ashipping service 816, such as Federal Express®, United Parcel Service®,and/or any other suitable shipping service. In this embodiment, theseller 806 and/or the purchaser 804 initially register with thetransaction mechanism 802. Preferably, the seller 806 lists goods forsale at the Web portal provided by the auction intermediary 814, whichlisting results in a bid on the goods submitted by a purchaser. Theauction intermediary 814 then determines who has submitted the highestbid and notifies both the high-bidding purchaser and the seller. Thepurchaser 804 then selects a method for transferring suitable funds tothe seller, such as by a suitable transaction card or DDA. At the timeof the transaction, the purchaser may also be presented with the optionof selecting one or more value-added services. The purchaser transactioninformation is then suitably transmitted to the transaction mechanism802. Likewise, the seller suitably provides the transaction mechanism802 with suitable seller information for authentication purposes. Thetransaction mechanism 802 then performs suitable risk managementanalysis to determine whether the proposed transaction is associatedwith any credit and/or fraud risks. If the purchaser 804 has sufficientfunds available to complete the transfer and if both the purchaser 804and the seller 806 are authenticated (and assuming that the credit andfraud risk analyses do not result in a negative determination), then thetransaction mechanism 802 suitably debits the purchaser's card or DDA bythe amount of the purchase price as well as the cost of any selectedvalue added services. The transaction mechanism 802 then sends aconfirmation to the seller 806 that the purchaser's account has beendebited. Preferably, the transaction amount then is suitably held in anescrow account maintained by the transaction mechanism, and once theshipping service 816 acquires the goods from the seller for shipment tothe purchaser, the transaction mechanism 802 receives a tracking numberfrom the shipping service 816. Depending upon the nature of the escrow,the transfer of finds to the seller's card or DDA will be delayedaccordingly. For example, the escrow may be based upon a 3-day waitingperiod following notification to the transaction mechanism 802 of thereceipt of the goods by the purchaser 804, which notification may bereceived directly from the purchaser 804 or from the shipping service816. Accordingly, the transaction mechanism 802 disburses theappropriate funds to the seller's DDA (minus any transactional fee) atthe seller's financial institution, which suitably credits the finds tothe seller's financial account. If selected by either the purchaser orthe seller, value-added services, such as purchaser's insurance anddispute resolution, may be provided as needed.

Exemplary Transaction Flow

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the present inventionadmits of various aspects which may be implemented in any of severalways. FIGS. 9-20 illustrate the flow of an exemplary transactionimplemented in accordance with particular aspects of the presentinvention. However, it should be understood that this transaction flowis exemplary only and is not intended to limit the scope of the presentinvention as described above.

With reference to FIG. 9, an exemplary user registration process 902begins when an individual 904, such as an Internet user, accesses thetransaction mechanism and requests registration with the transactionmechanism. Internet user 904 may be either a potential purchaser or apotential seller. As illustrated in the exemplary interface of FIG. 10,an Internet user may suitably register with the transaction mechanism byactivating hyperlink 1002, which activation preferably results in thedisplay of the terms and conditions for registration and a request thatan Internet user input suitable registration information, as describedin greater detail above.

Once an Internet user 904 has registered with the transaction mechanism,the Internet user 904 may then suitably request to be logged into thetransaction system, as represented by step 906 of FIG. 9. As illustratedin the exemplary transaction mechanism main page of FIG. 11, an Internetuser may suitably request the login page by activating hyperlink 1102,which activation preferably results in the display of a login pagehaving suitable datafields. The datafields may request any suitablelogin information from an Internet user. Such login information mayinclude, for example, a request for the Internet user's unique useridentifier and a password or pass phrase. Once the Internet user submitsthe requested information, the Internet user is suitably logged into thetransaction system. If the Internet user submits an invalid useridentifier and/or password, an error message is suitably displayed, andthe Internet user is requested to re-enter and re-submit theinformation. Once the Internet user is logged into the transactionsystem, the transaction system retrieves the list of registered card andDDA accounts held by the Internet user and displays a suitableinterface, such as the exemplary interface of FIG. 12, which may provideany suitable means for either conveying information to or receivinginformation from the Internet user. As illustrated in the exemplaryembodiment represented in FIG. 12, the transaction system preferablyprovides means for initiating a transaction, such as tab 1202 forexample, and may suitably display the Internet user's transactionhistory, as represented by data table 1204. Suitable data access optionssuch as hyperlinks 1206 and 1208, may be provided to enable the Internetuser to access any suitable information that may be provided by thetransaction system, such as information pertaining to other registeredfinancial accounts and/or means for registering additional financialaccounts with the transaction mechanism.

With momentary reference to FIG. 9, in an exemplary embodiment, Internetuser 904 may be either a seller 908 or a purchaser 910. If Internet user904 is a seller 908 who is suitably registered and logged into thetransaction system, the seller 908 may suitably initiate a transactionthrough the transaction mechanism. In an exemplary embodiment, there arepreferably two aspects involved in a seller-initiated transaction.First, the seller 908 suitably creates a transaction invoice, asrepresented by step 912. Then, the purchaser 910 preferably confirms oraccepts the transaction, as represented by step 914. Preferably, at anygiven point during the transaction, either the seller 908 or thepurchaser 910 may either cancel (step 916) or reverse (step 918) thetransaction. In the event that a purchaser 910 or a seller 908experiences any difficulty with the transaction mechanism or if there isa dispute between the seller 908 and the purchaser 910, a customerservice representative 920 associated with the third party entity whichis providing the transaction mechanism may suitably provide any desiredcustomer service and/or dispute resolution (step 922).

FIG. 13 next illustrates an exemplary process for initiating acommercial transaction between a seller and a purchaser. In thisexemplary embodiment, a seller-initiated transaction preferably beginswhen the seller submits a request to start a transaction, such as byactivating tab 1202 of FIG. 12. Once the transaction mechanism receivesthe request, the transaction mechanism determines whether the seller isa registered user (step 1304). If the seller is not a registered user,the transaction mechanism provides a suitable registration interface(step 1306), such as described above with reference to FIG. 10. If theseller is a registered user, the transaction mechanism provides asuitable means for initiating the transaction (step 1308), such as byproviding the exemplary interface of FIG. 14.

The seller then suitably provides the information requested by thetransaction mechanism (step 1310). For example, the seller enters theappropriate information which may be requested by various transactiondatafields provided by the transaction mechanism through a suitable userinterface, such as the exemplary transaction invoice entry page 1400 ofFIG. 14. The transaction datafields provided by a suitable transactionentry interface may include suitable datafields of any number or form,such as, for example, a datafield 1402 for a prospective purchaser'semail address; a datafield 1404 indicating a final date for theacceptable transfer of funds to the seller; a datafield 1406 forindicating the seller's reference number; a datafield 1408 for atransaction description, such as the identification of any intermediary,like eBay, which may be involved in the transaction; datafields 1410 fora description of the particular items that will be the subject of thetransaction; datafields 1412 for indicating the appropriate quantity ofeach item described in datafield 1410; datafields 1414 for indicatingthe appropriate price for each item described in datafield 1410;datafields 1416 for indicating the subtotal amount or extended priceassociated with the quantity and price for each item described indatafield 1410; a datafield 1418 for indicating a suitable cost for anydesired value-added services, such as insurance, dispute resolution,postal tracking, or any other suitable value-added service; a datafield1420 for indicating the cost associated with any shipping and handlingcharges; datafield 1422 for indicating any miscellaneous charges thatmay be associated with the transaction, such as any applicable taxes forexample; and a datafield 1424 for indicating a total charge or totalamount of funds to be transferred from the purchaser to the seller uponcompletion of the transaction. Additional information that may berequested from the Internet user may include the email address of theInternet user, any optional email message intended for the purchaser,and/or any other suitable information.

Additionally, a suitable transaction entry interface may include anynumber or form of tabs, such as tab 1426 which activates the creation ofadditional datafields 1410. The additional tab or tabs may be used bythe seller to activate or implement any suitable function which mayfurther facilitate the transaction between the seller and the purchaser.For example, transaction invoice entry page 1400 may also include anadditional datafield, or tab for accessing an additional datafield,which may request that the seller provide suitable information regardingan escrow release event. Such escrow release event information mayinclude a particular time period within which a purchaser may eitheraccept or reject any items prior to the transfer of finds from theescrow account to the seller's account, such as a particular number ofdays after the purchaser receives goods, services, or other value from asuitable shipping agent.

In addition to entering the appropriate information which may berequested by the various transaction data fields provided by thetransaction mechanism, the seller preferably is further requested toselect a suitable financial account which will ultimately receive thefunds transferred from the purchaser at the completion of thetransaction. Preferably, the various options presented to the seller onthe transaction entry interface reflect the financial account oraccounts provided by the seller during the seller's registration withthe transaction mechanism, as described above. The financial accountselection options may include any suitable selection options whichprovide the transaction mechanism with the appropriate information. Asillustrated in exemplary transaction invoice entry page 1400, financialaccount selection options may include selection options 1428 and 1430which preferably indicate the type of financial account 1428, such as acredit card or a demand deposit account (DDA), and the financial accountidentifier 1430, such as a credit card number or a DDA number.

As one skilled in the art will appreciate, the above describedtransaction entry interface, as well as any or all other aspects of thepresent invention, may include any suitable form of encryption and/orother security measures either currently known or hereafter devised.

Once the seller completes a suitable transaction entry interface, theseller may either submit or cancel the transaction invoice entry (step1312). If the seller cancels the transaction invoice entry, such as byactivating tab 1432 of FIG. 14, the seller is returned to thetransaction mechanism main page (step 1314), such as the exemplarytransaction mechanism main page illustrated in FIG. 11. If the sellersubmits the transaction invoice entry page to the transaction mechanismby activating, for example, a suitable tab, such as tab 1432, or bypressing the enter key on a suitable input device, a transaction invoiceis then displayed by the transaction mechanism (step 1316). Thetransaction invoice may include any suitable information entered by theseller on the transaction entry interface and any other relevantinformation, such as any transaction or service fees charged by thetransaction mechanism. As illustrated in the exemplary transactioninvoice 1500 of FIG. 15, such information may include any or all of theentries corresponding to the datafields described above with referenceto FIG. 14. In addition, the transaction invoice may include an invoicenumber 1536 which may be automatically assigned by the transactionmechanism; an additional service fee amount 1538 which may be suitablydeducted from the amount of finds transferred from the purchaser; atotal amount 1540, net of fees, owed to the seller at the completion ofthe transaction; the date 1542 that the transaction invoice was created;and a status indicator 1544, which may include any suitable indicator ofany suitable status that may be relevant to the transaction as of thedisplay date of the transaction invoice, such as any of the exemplarystatus indicators illustrated beneath status key 1546 (i.e., paid,waiting on purchaser, declined by purchaser, and expired).

After the seller completes a review of the transaction invoice, theseller may either decline or accept the transaction invoice (step 1318).If the seller declines the transaction invoice, such as by suitablyactivating tab 1548 of FIG. 15 for example, a suitable transactioninterface is displayed (step 1319), such as exemplary cancel transactionpage 1600 of FIG. 16, which may provide suitable means, such as tabs1602 and 1604, for either initiating a new transaction or returning tothe transaction mechanism main page. If the seller accepts thetransaction invoice, such as by suitably activating tab 1550 of FIG. 15or pressing the enter key on a suitable input device for example, thetransaction invoice is suitably stored by the transaction mechanism in asuitable storage device (step 1320). Then, the transaction invoice ispreferably transmitted to both the purchaser and the seller by anysuitable method, such as by email, facsimile, mail, and/or the like(step 1322). Preferably, the transaction invoice is transmitted viaemail to the respective email addresses of the purchaser and the seller.

Once the seller's transaction invoice is transmitted to the purchaser,the transaction may be suitably completed when the purchaser accepts thetransaction. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated by the flowchart ofFIG. 17, when the purchaser receives a transmission from the transactionmechanism regarding the transaction invoice (step 1702), such as anemail transmission having a hyperlink to a suitable purchasertransaction interface, the purchaser may follow the link to thetransaction interface (step 1704), such as the exemplary purchasertransaction review page 1800 of FIG. 18, to review the terms andconditions of the transaction as set forth by the seller. As illustratedin FIG. 17, a purchaser may accept a transaction by one of at leastthree methods, wherein the methods are indicated by phantom lines torepresent the purchaser's optional courses of action. First, thepurchaser may accept the transaction using a suitable card withoutlogging into the transaction system (step 1706). Second, the purchasermay accept the transaction by suitably logging into the transactionsystem and selecting a suitable card to transfer funds to the seller(step 1708). Finally, the purchaser may accept the transaction bysuitably logging into the transaction system and selecting a suitableDDA to transfer funds to the seller (step 1710).

In the first case, the purchaser accepts the transaction with a suitablecard without logging into the transaction system. If the transactionterms and conditions are acceptable to the purchaser, the purchasersuitably completes the purchaser transaction review page (step 1706) byproviding information regarding the purchaser's card to effect asuitable transfer of funds from the purchaser's card account to thefinancial account of the seller. As illustrated in exemplary purchasertransaction review page 1800 of FIG. 18, the purchaser enters theappropriate information which may be requested by various transactiondatafields provided by the transaction mechanism on the purchasertransaction review page 1800. The transaction datafields provided by thepurchaser transaction review page may include suitable datafields of anynumber or form, such as, for example, a datafield 1802 for thepurchaser's name as it appears on the card; a datafield 1804 forindicating a card account number; a datafield 1806 for providing a cardidentification number, such as the four digits that are frequentlyprinted on the card above the card number; and datafields 1808 forindicating the card's expiration date.

Additionally, purchaser transaction review page 1800 may include anynumber or form of additional tabs or datafields. The additional tabs ordatafields may be used by the purchaser to implement any suitablefunction which may further facilitate the transaction between the sellerand the purchaser. For example, purchaser transaction review page 1800may also include an additional datafield, or tab for accessing anadditional datafield, which may permit the purchaser to provide ormodify information regarding an escrow release event. Such escrowrelease event information may include a particular time period withinwhich a purchaser may either accept or reject any items prior to thetransfer of funds from the escrow account to the seller's account, suchas a particular number of days after the purchaser receives goods,services, or other value from a suitable shipping agent. If a purchasermodifies or adds information to the purchaser transaction review page,such as modifying or adding information regarding an escrow releaseevent, the transaction flow as described herein preferably includes anadditional communication or transmission of the transaction terms to theseller so that the seller is given a suitable opportunity to eitheraccept or decline the modified terms and conditions of the transaction.

After the purchaser has suitably entered the requested information, thepurchaser suitably submits the purchaser transaction review page to thetransaction mechanism, such as by activating tab 1810 or pressing theenter key on a suitable input device for example. Once the purchaser'scard information profile has been completed and the purchasertransaction review page is submitted, the transaction mechanism displaysa suitable transaction invoice, such as exemplary purchaser transactioninvoice 1900 of FIGS. 19A and 19B. At this point, the purchaser mayeither accept or decline the transaction (step 1712). If the purchaserdeclines the transaction, such as by suitably activating tab 1902 ofexemplary purchaser transaction invoice 1900, a suitable interface isdisplayed (step 1714), such as exemplary purchaser decline transactionpage 2000 of FIG. 20, which may provide any suitable information ormeans for acquiring information, such as tabs 2002 and 2004.

If the purchaser accepts the transaction, the transaction mechanismperforms a suitable card authorization/authentication routine, which mayinclude suitable credit risk and fraud risk analyses (step 1716). If thetransaction is unacceptable, either due to a potential fraud risk or acredit risk, the transaction mechanism cancels the transaction andsuitably notifies, such as by email, both the purchaser and the seller(step 1718). If the transaction is acceptable, the transaction mechanismsuitably debits the purchaser's account. Preferably, the transactionmechanism then credits an appropriate escrow account (step 1720),pending notification by either the purchaser and/or a shipping agentthat any defined escrow release event has transpired (step 1722). If thedefined escrow release event transpires, the transaction mechanismsuitably disburses the appropriate funds to the seller's financialaccount (step 1726) and notifies both the purchaser and the seller thatthe transaction has been completed (step 1728). However, if an escrowrelease event has been defined during the transaction by either thetransacting parties or a suitable third party and the escrow releaseevent is not satisfied, the transaction mechanism either reverses thetransaction, such as by performing a suitable chargeback or some othersuitable transaction reversal procedure, or follows a suitable disputeresolution protocol, as described above (step 1724). As illustrated inphantom lines in order to represent alternative process flows, if anydispute between the parties is favorably resolved, suitable finds may bedisbursed to the seller (step 1726) and the parties may be notified ofthe completion of the transaction (step 1728). However, if any disputeis not favorably resolved, or if the most appropriate resolution iscancellation of the transaction, the transaction is suitably terminatedor otherwise reversed, and the purchaser and seller are suitablynotified of the termination and/or reversal of the transaction (step1728).

In the second case, the purchaser accepts the transaction by logginginto the transaction system and selecting the option or transferringfunds to the seller from the purchaser's card (step 1708).Alternatively, the purchaser accepts the transaction by logging into thetransaction system and selecting the option of transferring funds to theseller from the purchaser's DDA (step 1710). In either of thesesituations, the transaction mechanism suitably processes the purchaser'slogin request and determines whether the purchaser is a registered user(step 1730). If the purchaser is not a registered user, the transactionmechanism provides a suitable registration interface (step 1732), suchas described above with reference to FIG. 10. If the purchaser is aregistered user, the transaction mechanism then performs steps 1712through 1728, as described above.

Although the foregoing describes an exemplary seller-initiatedtransaction, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the presentinvention is not so limited and may be readily implemented by means ofany suitable purchaser-initiated transaction or, alternatively, anysuitable third-party-initiated transaction, such as anintermediary-initiated transaction.

Exemplary Transaction Mechanism

As one skilled in the art will appreciate, the transaction mechanism ofthe present invention may be suitably configured in any of several ways.It should be understood that the transaction mechanism described hereinwith reference to FIG. 21 is but one exemplary embodiment of theinvention and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention asdescribed above. FIG. 21 illustrates an exemplary transaction mechanism2100 comprising a C2C Service 2104; a Transaction Manager 2106; aBusiness Rules Engine 2108; an Express Net Interface Manager 2110; aneMailers Engine 2112; an SSL Gateway Interface Manager 2114; a C2CLogging Engine 2116; and a Financial Transaction Submission Daemon 2118.

The C2C Service 2104 suitably processes initial transaction requestsfrom Internet users 2102. Exemplary processes performed by the C2CService 2104 include requesting transaction information, such as cardand/or DDA information, from an Internet user 2102 who has logged intothe transaction system; validating the data entered by an Internet user2102; and submitting a completed transaction invoice to the TransactionManager 2106. The C2C Service 2104 communicates with the othercomponents of the system through any suitable Communications link,including a network connection such as an Intranet, extranet, and/or thelike.

The Transaction Manager 2106 performs a variety of processes whichfacilitate a transaction between a seller and a purchaser. Theseprocesses may include creating transaction invoices and managing them,including updating a particular transaction invoice at the variousstages of the transaction process; sending emails to sellers andpurchasers using the E-Mailers Engine 2112; and processing requests fromthe Virtual Point of Sale (VPOS) Capture Daemon for transactions whichare eligible for submission to the financial capture systems, asdescribed in greater detail below.

The Business Rules Engine 2108 preferably provides access to a varietyof operating standards that may be applied to any given transactionbetween a seller and a purchaser. The applicable operating standards mayinclude, but are not limited to, any of the following: (1) given atransaction type and a transaction, Business Rules Engine 2108 mayreturn a suitable pricing model to be applied to the transaction; (2)Business Rules Engine 2108 may compute a transaction fee based upon acertain number of basis points, which preferably is a configurableparameter generated from a suitable fee table (for example, one basispoint=0.01%, so 375 bp=3.75% of the total price of the transaction); (3)Business Rules Engine 2108 may apply a flat transaction fee; and/or (4)given a transaction and a transaction type, Business Rules Engine 2108may apply a fraud model to the transaction, wherein the exemplary fraudmodel may include any of the following: (a) authorization for thepurchaser's part in the transaction, including billing addressverification and 4DBC verification of the purchaser; (b) verification ofa lack of any relationship between the purchaser and the seller, whereinall transactions showing a relationship (such as “self” or otherpersonal relationship) between the purchaser and the seller may be“failed” or otherwise terminated; (c) application of a 3-strike rule,wherein the transaction is failed or terminated if a 3rd attempt toauthorize the transaction fails and an email is sent to the sellerproviding an explanation for the cancellation of the transaction; and(d) verification that the transaction amount has not exceeded anyprescribed limits, such as a limit on the transaction amount and/or alimit regarding the maximum number of transactions that may be conductedbetween a first party and any other party during some defined period oftime (such as per day, per week, per month, etc.). Preferably, anyapplicable transaction limits are provided as configurable parameters bythe Business Rules Engine 2108.

In the case of both verification of the purchaser's billing address andverification of purchaser/seller non-relationship, a ‘system notavailable’ response is possible, in which case the Business Rules Engine2108 may recommend either a time-out or that the transaction beterminated.

Preferably, the non-relationship verification is the first process sentto the credit authorizations system (CAS) from the transaction mechanism2100, since the data for this process preferably is contained within theCAS rather than a separate cardmember system (IMS, Triumph). The CAS isan online system which analyzes charge requests and either approves thecharge requests or refers them to an Authorizer for a decision. CASpreferably contains a negative file, a delinquency file, and anaccumulative file. If the purchaser and seller pass the non-relationshipverification, then an authorization request (with AAV and 4DBC) is sent.The authorization request preferably involves CAS accessing a suitablecardmember system to verify the billing address.

The Express Net Interface Manager 2110 communicates with the ExpressNet, the utility which processes user registration and manages theaccounts of registered users. The Express Net Interface Manager 2110accesses the Express Net and acquires any suitable user data which maybe desired to process a particular pending transaction. Preferably, theExpress Net Interface Manager 2110 acquires a list of the Internetuser's registered cards and/or DDAs as well as other unique datapertaining to the Internet user 2102, wherein the exemplary informationmay be used to process the transaction.

The eMailers Engine 2112 preferably sends suitable email notificationsand/or confirmations to both the seller and the purchaser in the case ofeither a merchandise transaction or a transfer of funds. For example,the eMailers Engine 2112 may send an email comprising a notificationwhich may: (1) notify a purchaser, preferably with an encrypted URL, ofa transaction or funds transfer initiated by a seller and providesuitable means for the purchaser either to accept or decline thetransaction or funds transfer; (2) copy the seller on the notificationsent to the purchaser; and/or (3) indicate to both a seller and apurchaser that the purchaser has either accepted or declined atransaction or transfer of funds.

The SSL Gateway Interface Manager 2114 preferably communicates with theSSL Gateway, which preferably includes a Payment Gateway Client Classand a CAS Authentication Component. The SSL Gateway is a message andfile distribution system which accepts authorization requests online anddistributes those authorization requests to a proper payment system. ThePayment Gateway Client Class preferably processes all of the protocoland transport level responsibilities that are or may be used forcommunicating with the Payment Gateway Server, which operates as a partof the SSL Gateway. Preferably, the defined protocols include theaddition of a MIME header to all XML messages sent to the paymentgateway and the use of TCP/IP sockets for communication with the PaymentGateway. The CAS Authentication Component preferably is responsible forperforming the CAS financial authorization processes (ISO8583) as wellas performing the CAS non-relationship verification processes based uponthe new ISO message.

The C2C Logging Engine 2116 preferably audits and error logs all eventsin the transaction system 2100. Preferably, the C2C Logging Engine 2116logs errors in the transaction system 2100 into a flat file. Preferably,the CA Unicenter agent for production support uses this flat file.

The Financial Transaction Submission Daemon 2118 preferably submits eachtransaction's financial transaction record, such as a credit and/ordebit Virtual Point of Sale (VPOS) record that results from a particularcard to card or card to DDA transaction, to a VPOS Acceptance System2202 via the SSL Gateway 2204, as better seen in FIG. 22. Preferably,each individual financial transaction record is submitted to the VPOSAcceptance System as it is received, without being processed as part ofa batch file. The VPOS Acceptance System receives the financialtransaction record, formats the financial capture file, and forwards thefinancial capture file to the SSL Gateway. The SSL Gateway then forwardsthe financial capture file to the appropriate financial capture system.The submission of the financial transaction record preferably is basedupon a message-based protocol that is implemented by the VPOS AcceptanceSystem.

FIGS. 23-25 illustrate exemplary systems to facilitate a commercialtransaction. The transaction may be conducted at a geographically remotelocation and/or may include locating and using payment systems. Itshould be noted that in FIGS. 23-25, any of the communications betweencomponents may include wireless communication or non-wirelesscommunication. In an exemplary embodiment, the solid lines representwired communications and the dashed lines represent wirelesscommunications. As used herein, wireless may include stationary ormobile devices. With reference to FIG. 23, in an exemplary embodiment,system 2300 may include a POS device 2310 associated with a merchant.

POS device 2310, in exemplary embodiments, may include any devicecapable of receiving transaction account or instrument (e.g., a creditcard, debit card, charge card, smart card, RFID, etc.) information,transmitting a request for payment authorization (e.g., from ageographically remote location), receiving payment authorization (e.g.,at a geographically remote location), storing a payment systemdirectory, and/or storing and executing a logic module. For example, POSdevice 2310 may be: a computing device comprising a memory, a processor,an input interface and output interface; a kiosk; a personal digitalassistant (PDA); a handheld computer (e.g., a Palm Pilot®, aBlackBerry®, etc.); a cellular phone; a mobile device, a magstripereader; and/or the like. In an exemplary embodiment, POS device 2310 maybe a wireless POS device. For example, POS device 2310 may be configuredto transmit and/or receive information utilizing radio frequency (RF)signals, Bluetooth® technology, optical signals, microwave signals,satellite signals, and/or any other signal capable of wirelesslytransmitting a payment authorization request and/or wirelessly receivingpayment authorization.

System 2300, in an exemplary embodiment, may also include a paymentsystem 2331 con figured to communicate with POS device 2310 to receive apayment authorization request, process the request, and transmit partialor full payment authorization similar to payment systems discussedabove. Payment system 2331, in exemplary embodiments, may be configuredsuch that payment system 2331 is wirelessly compatible with POS device2310. In other words, payment system 2331 and POS device 2310 mayinclude at least one similar wireless communication system, device,interface, method and/or protocol by which to communicate with oneanother. In these exemplary embodiments, payment system 2331 may becapable of receiving wireless communication signals (e.g., wirelessrequests for payment authorization) from POS device 2310, andparticularly, while POS device 2310 is located at the remote location.

In one embodiment, system 2300 may also include one or more additionalpayment systems (e.g., payment system 2332) configured similar topayment system 2331. In these embodiments, the additional paymentsystem(s) is also configured to communicate with POS device 2310 similarto payment system 2331 discussed above.

In an exemplary embodiment, and with respect to FIG. 24, POS device 2410may be configured to communicate with payment system directory 2420and/or payment system 2431 and/or payment system 2432 via, for example,the Internet and/or other network known in the art or described herein.System 2400 may include a POS device 2410 configured similar to POSdevice 2310 discussed above. Similarly, system 2400, in one exemplaryembodiment, may include a payment system 2431 which may be configuredsimilar to payment system 2331 discussed above.

In exemplary embodiments, payment system directory 2420 may beconfigured with a similar wireless communication protocol as POS device2410. For example, payment system directory 2420 may be capable ofreceiving wireless communication signals (e.g., wireless requests tolocate at least one payment system and/or wireless requests for paymentauthorization) from POS device 2410 while POS device 2410 is located atthe remote location. In addition, payment system directory 2420 may beconfigured to contain information pertaining to multiple candidatepayment systems (e.g., payment systems 2431 and 2432) for thetransaction.

In an embodiment, POS device 2410 may comprise payment system directory2420; e.g., POS device and payment system directory 2420 may be embodiedin one physical device, embodied as software and data in the same memoryelement, or embodied as software and data in separate memory elementsand logically or physically connected to each other. In one embodiment,payment system directory 2420 comprises a payment directory computercapable of accessing one or more payment directories. In variousembodiments, payment system directory 2420 which may be geographicallydispersed and may be provided by a third party. In various embodiments,transaction, request, and directory data, rules and logic may be cached,copied, stored, mirrored, synchronized or reconciled by POS device 2410or a transaction device.

Payment system directory 2420 (and gateway 2515 as discussed below) maycontain algorithms and/or rules to enable payment system directory 2420to choose a payment system based upon payment information (e.g.,transaction amount), information related to the type or transaction(e.g., individual to merchant transactions, merchant to merchanttransactions, etc.), the transaction instrument issuer (e.g., AmericanExpress) and/or any other criteria (e.g., related to the consumer,merchant, issuer, acquirer, network, POS device, etc).

Payment system directory 2420 may be in communication with at least onepayment system 2431. Payment system 2431 may be configured with asimilar wireless communication protocol, interface, device or system aspayment system directory 2420 and POS device 2410. In other words,payment system 2431 and POS device 2410, may include at least onesimilar wireless communication means by which to communicate with oneanother. Similarly, payment system 2431 and payment system directory2420 may include at least one similar wireless communication protocol bywhich to communicate with one another, however, payment system 2431 andpayment system directory 2420 may also include non-wireless systems andprotocols by which to communicate with one another.

System 2500, in an exemplary embodiment and with respect to FIG. 25, mayinclude a Gateway 2515 (e.g., SSL gateway) configured to communicatewith payment POS device 2510 while POS device 2510 is located at theremote location. In addition, SSL Gateway 2515, in exemplaryembodiments, may be configured to communicate with payment systemdirectory 2520 and various payments systems (e.g., payment system 2531and/or payment system 2532). System 2500 may also include a POS device2510 configured similar to POS devices 2410 and 2310 discussed above.Likewise, system 2500 may include a payment system directory 2520configured similar to payment system directory 2420 discussed above.Furthermore, in one embodiment, system 2500 may include one or morepayment systems (e.g., payment system 2531 and/or payment system 2532),wherein each payment system may be configured similar to payment systems2331, 2332, 2431 and/or 2432 discussed above.

SSL Gateway 2515 may be similar to SSL Gateway embodiments discussedabove, and/or may be configured to receive requests to locate a paymentsystem directory (e.g., payment system directory 2520), to locate such apayment system directory, to receive requests to locate a payment system(e.g., payment system 2531) and/or to locate such a payment system. SSLGateway 2515 may be configured to communicate with POS device 2510,payment system directory 2520, payment system 2531, and/or paymentsystem 2532 via, for example, the Internet and/or any other networkknown in the art or discussed herein. SSL Gateway 2515 may also beconfigured such that SSL Gateway 2515 is wirelessly compatible with POSdevice 2510. In other words, SSL Gateway 2515 and POS device 2510 mayinclude at least one similar wireless communication protocol by which tocommunicate with one another. SSL Gateway 2515 may be configured toreceive wireless communication signals (e.g., wireless requests tolocate at least one payment system directory and/or wireless requests tolocate at least one payment system) from POS device 2510 while POSdevice 2510 is located at the remote location. As used herein, similarwireless communication protocols may include similar wireless systems,methods, or interfaces, and/or conversion techniques to convertdissimilar protocols, etc. Moreover, any of the components maycommunicate with each other via wired or wireless systems and/orprotocols.

SSL Gateway 2515 may be configured to locate and/or request paymentauthorization from at least one payment system (e.g., payment system2531) and/or facilitate communication between POS device 2510 and atleast one payment system (e.g., payment system 2531), which may besimilar to payment system directory embodiments (e.g., payment systemdirectories 2520 and 2420) discussed above. In these exemplaryembodiments, SSL Gateway 2515 may communicate directly with one or morepayment systems without utilizing a payment system directory.

Commercial transactions may be conducted at the customer's home orbusiness such that, for example, pizza, groceries, supplies, or the likemay be delivered to the customer's home or business. Likewise, yardmaintenance, cleaning or like services may also be performed at thecustomer's home or business. Similarly, a commercial transaction mayoccur at a sporting event, concert, exposition or trade show.Furthermore, commercial transactions are capable of being conducted onstreets located adjacent to airports, hotels, shopping centers, and thelike, in the case of a shuttle, bus, train, subway, ferry, taxi or otherForm of transportation involving picking up and dropping off customersat remote locations. As such, commercial transactions may be conductedat any number of geographically remote locations. In some remotelyconducted commercial transactions, a customer may wish to tender paymentto the merchant using a transaction instrument.

In an exemplary embodiment, with respect to FIG. 26, once the merchantis presented with the transaction account information, the merchant mayenter the account information and transaction information (e.g.,transaction amount) into a POS device while at the geographically remotelocation (step 2610). The account and transaction information may beentered by swiping, waving, hitting keys and/or inserting thetransaction instrument into or around the POS device, and/or utilizingany other method of transferring the account information from thetransaction instrument into the POS device.

In response to the account and transaction information beingtransferred/entered into the POS device, the POS device may communicatea request for payment authorization directly to a host computer of atleast one payment system while the POS device is located at thegeographically remote location (step 2660). As depicted in FIGS. 24 and27 and as described further below, in one embodiment, the POS devicecommunicates with payment systems via a payment directory and/or an SSLgateway. The payment authorization request may be processed by one ormore payment systems to determine whether the account includessufficient funds, sufficient available credit or meets otherauthorization requirements (step 2670). If the account does not fully orpartially meet the requirements, a “decline” message may be generated orpartial payment may be authorized (step 2682). If the authorization isdeclined, the transaction may be cancelled (step 2683). If partialpayment is authorized, the POS device may be notified (step 2685), andthe POS device may request payment authorization from other paymentsystems until the full or a larger amount has been aggregatelyauthorized (steps 2660, 2670, 2682 and/or 2685 being repeated, asnecessary), or, after every available candidate payment system has beenqueried, full payment authorization is unattainable and the transactioncancelled (step 2683).

In an embodiment, the payment system and/or payment directory computerdetermines the requirements are met for full payment authorization(e.g., partial payment authorization aggregated to the full paymentamount or acceptable partial payment), so the payment authorization maybe transmitted from the payment system(s) and received by the POS device(step 2688). In an embodiment, the payment directory computer transmitsa payment response based upon the POS device's payment request and basedupon the first authorization response and/or the second authorizationresponse. In various embodiments, the payment response may betransmitted to a merchant system, the POS device, a wireless transactiondevice, a website, an electronic commerce system, a wallet systemassociated with a purchaser, or a purchaser transaction device.

Payment authorization(s) may be received by the POS device before thetransaction at the remote location is completed (step 2690). In suchembodiments, payment authorization(s) may be received by the POS deviceimmediately after the requests for payment authorization are transmittedand/or relatively soon after the requests for payment authorization aretransmitted to the payment system(s), such that the transaction may becompleted within a reasonable time and/or while the customer remainspresent at the remote location. The method also contemplates batchprocessing or other delayed processing methods.

In an embodiment, the method includes inserting third party accountinformation into a portion (e.g., encrypted portion) of the paymentrequest, so the payment request appears as a normal request to theissuing bank. In one embodiment, to take advantage of existingtransaction message formats and, thus, minimize the need to modifyexisting merchant systems and or POS devices, the third party accountinformation may be transmitted in an existing field of an industrystandard financial transaction format. For example, the account numberon the payment instrument may direct the authorization to the issuingbank or institution, but payment request may also include encryptedinformation with a different account number associated with a thirdparty for billing the charge (e.g., Sprint phone number or Sprintaccount number). When the issuer receives the payment request, theissuer then sends the request to Sprint for authorization.Alternatively, the issuer may authorize the request and pay themerchants, then send the request to Sprint for customer billing purposesthrough its typical customer billing routine.

In one embodiment, the payment request may include a proxy accountidentifier. “proxy account identifier” includes any device, hardware,software, code, number, letter, symbol, digital certificate, smart chip,digital signal, analog signal, biometric and/or otheridentifier/indicia. The proxy account identifier also refers to anyinformation provided to, for example, a merchant system duringcompletion of a transaction request, which partially and/or fully masksthe transaction account information. Moreover, the proxy accountidentifier may take the form of any conventional transaction accountidentifier. As such, when the merchant receives the proxy accountidentifier, the merchant system or RFID processes the proxy accountidentifier under business as usual standards. In one embodiment, paymentsystem directory receives 2420 a proxy account identifier and accessestransaction account information for numerous transaction accounts basedupon the proxy account identifier. For more information regarding proxyaccount identifiers (also known as, “proxy code”), please see U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/164,609, filed on Jul. 10, 2001 andentitled “System And Method For Securing A Recurrent BillingTransaction”, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Method 2700, in one embodiment and with respect to FIG. 27, may initiatein a manner similar to step 2610 discussed above. In an exemplaryembodiment, the POS device may initially communicate a request to apayment system directory 2420 to identify and/or locate at least onepayment system to authorize at least a portion of the payment for theremote location transaction (step 2730). As discussed above, in oneembodiment, in order identify one or more payment systems, a paymentdirectory computer may construct a query based upon predetermined rulesand/or algorithms and submit the query to one or more payment systemdirectories.

In one embodiment, the process of querying, by the payment directorycomputer, a payment system directory includes transmitting a paymentdirectory request to the payment system directory with one or moreselection parameters, where the selection parameter is associated with apayment directory selection factor (e.g. an account owner associatedwith the payment request or a merchant associated with the transaction).The payment system directory parses the payment directory request,creates a query based upon the parsed payment directory request andexecutes the query against a payment system database. The payment systemdatabase receives the query and may access look up tables associatedwith the selection parameters) and may execute a join of multiple tables(which may reside on different logical or physical data files) basedupon the selection parameter(s) to determine one or more candidatepayment systems to return to the payment system computer. Furthermore,the payment system directory may update, add, or delete data in one ormore payment system directories. The payment system computer receivesquery results that include one or more candidate payment systems. Thepayment system computer may apply business rules to further determine apayment system based upon on the query results or may pass the queryresults to a POS device that is capable of applying business rules todetermine a payment system.

In one embodiment, as discussed briefly above, the POS device comprisesa payment system directory, including both payment system data,functionality and logic; i.e., the payment system directory may bephysically or logically indistinct from the POS device. For example, thePOS device may include a cached, mirrored or off-line version of thepayment system directory data (“cached” or “off-line” payment directory)and the POS device may include a logic module configured to query thecached payment system directory. The cached payment directory includes alogic module configured to query the cached payment system directorywith one or more selection parameters, where the selection parameter isassociated with a payment directory selection factor (e.g. an accountowner associated with the payment request or a merchant associated withthe transaction). The cached payment system directory receives the queryand may access look up tables associated with the selection parameter(s)and may execute a join of multiple tables (which may reside on differentlogical or physical data files) based upon the selection parameter(s) todetermine one or more candidate payment systems to return to the paymentsystem computer. The cached payment system directory returns queryresults that include one or more candidate payment systems. The POSdevice may apply business rules to further determine a payment systembased upon on the query results.

In one embodiment, a cached payment system directory may include datareflecting a previous transaction and/or a present or previous state ofa payment system directory. For example, the a POS device includes acached payment system directory. In a first transaction, the POS deviceaccesses a payment system directory and at least a portion of the dataobtained from the payment system directory is stored in the cachedpayment system directory. In a second transaction, the POS deviceaccesses the cached payment system directory. In one embodiment, data onthe cached payment system directory may be updated based upon the secondtransaction or upon other events, data or factors. The cached paymentsystem directory and the payment system directory may synchronize dataand/or perform reconciliation logic with respect to each other.

In one embodiment, payment system directory 2420 is configured todetermine one or more payment systems based upon at least one of: thepayment request, a merchant system, a requesting device, a merchant whosubmitted a payment request, a POS device attribute, a purchasertransaction device attribute, a transaction amount, an account holder, atransaction account, a transaction account issuer, an alternate accountassociated with a transaction account, an overdraft rule, an overdraftaccount, an acquiring financial institution, a point of sale device, aPOS device associated with a transaction, a merchant associated with aPOS device, a geographic location, a geographic location associated witha transaction, a code, a product associated with a transaction, amerchant associated with a transaction, a date a user data input, afirst budget associated with a first account and with budgetinformation, a points balance associated with a rewards account, anexpiration date associated with a rewards program, a points balanceassociated with a second rewards program, an expiration date associatedwith a rewards program, a points balance associated with a rewardsaccount or an allowance.

Referring again to FIG. 27, the payment system directory (and/or the SSLgateway) may facilitate communication of a payment authorization requestfrom the POS device to at least one payment system (step 2750). Once thepayment authorization request is received by the payment system, method2700 may include steps 2660, 2670, 2682, 2683, 2688 and 2690 similar toembodiments discussed above with respect to method 2600. Moreover,method 2700 may include partial payment authorization being communicatedto the POS device (step 2785). In these embodiments, steps 2730, 2740,2750, 2660, 2670 2682 and 2785 may be repeated until the full amount hasbeen aggregately authorized (step 2688) or, after every availablecandidate payment system has been inquired of, full paymentauthorization is unattainable and the transaction cancelled (step 2683).

In one embodiments in response to a first authorization responseindicating a decline or a partial authorization, payment directorycomputer determines a second payment system for processing at least aportion of the transaction, transmits a second authorization request toa second payment system related to at least a portion of thetransaction, receives from the second payment system a secondauthorization response associated with the second authorization request.A second payment system may be at least partially determined based uponthe partial authorization. Furthermore, in an embodiment, an amount ofthe second authorization request is based upon a transaction amountassociated with the payment request minus an amount substantially equalto a partial payment amount associated with the partial authorization.In one embodiment, the percentage of a partial payment relative to atransaction amount associated with the payment request is calculated andif the percentage of the partial payment is less than a predeterminedthreshold, the amount of the second authorization request is equal tothe transaction amount associated with the payment request. In responseto either a decline or a partial authorization of the firstauthorization request, a second authorization request may be based upona transaction amount associated with the payment request and the paymentresponse based upon the second authorization response. In situationswhere partial payment authorization is required from more than onepayment system, the POS device may be configured to receive the multiplepartial payment authorizations in succession, as a batch total oraccording to any other suitable routine.

In one embodiment, a transaction is funded from more than onetransaction account. Payment directory computer receives a paymentrequest for a transaction and determines from the payment request two ormore transaction accounts to fund the transaction. Payment directorycomputer may determine that the transaction should be split overmultiple transaction accounts by, for example, a flag in the paymentrequest, a transaction amount, a merchant, a predetermined rule, etc.Payment directory computer determines payment systems and facilitatestransaction authorization requests to the payment systems for therespective accounts. Payment directory computer may Communicate thetransaction account and payment system information to a POS device andthe POS device may send a transaction account to the payment systems.

In one embodiment, payment directory computer facilitates a purchasetransaction that involves determining a payment account and/or a paymentsystem based upon budget information. For example, payment directorycomputer receives a payment request for a transaction. The paymentrequest may be received from a POS device, a merchant system andelectronic commerce system either directly or via an SSL gateway. Basedupon the payment request and budget information associated with theaccount, payment directory computer determines a first account to atleast partially fund the transaction. Payment directory computerdetermines a payment system for processing at least a portion of thetransaction and facilitates an authorization request to the paymentsystem. In an embodiment, a similar method may be performed by a pointof service device.

Similar to determining transaction accounts and payment systems toprocess a transaction according to budget information, in oneembodiment, the payment directory computer facilitates a purchasetransaction that involves determining a payment system based upon arewards account. The payment directory computer receives a paymentrequest for a transaction and determines that the transaction should beat least partially funded from a rewards account. Based upon the rewardsaccount and other decision making factors or predetermined rule logic(e.g., as discussed above), the payment directory determines a paymentsystem for processing at least a portion of the transaction. The paymentdirectory computer transmits an authorization request to the paymentsystem. In an embodiment, a similar method may be performed by a pointof service device.

In one embodiment, the payment directory facilitates a purchasetransaction that involves determining a payment account and/or a paymentsystem based upon a rewards accumulation strategy. For instance, basedupon a purchase amount, merchant, purchase date, etc., the paymentsystem may evaluate a number of transaction account to determine arewards account that would benefit most from processing the transactionusing a transaction account associated with that awards account. Themethod may include: receiving, at a payment directory computer, apayment request for a transaction; determining, by the payment directorycomputer and based upon the payment request, that the transaction shouldbe at least partially funded from a transaction account, wherein thetransaction account is determined at least partially by a rewardsprogram associated with the transaction account; determining, by thepayment directory computer, based upon the transaction account a paymentsystem for processing at least a portion of the transaction; and,facilitating, by the payment directory computer, an authorizationrequest to the payment system. In an embodiment, a similar method may beperformed by a point of service device.

In one embodiment, the method of using a payment directory to facilitatea purchase transaction involves determining a supplemental account forfunding a transaction. For example, a primary account may be linked to asupplemental account and the supplemental account may be used to fund atransaction (or a portion thereof) when the primary account drops belowa certain predetermined level, exceeds an allowance (e.g. dailytransaction limit, limit on purchases for particular type of product,etc.) or when the transaction amount exceeds a certain amount. In oneembodiment, a payment directory computer receives a payment request fora transaction; determines a first payment system for processing at leasta portion of the transaction; transmits a first authorization requestrelated to at least a portion of the transaction to the first paymentsystem; receives a first authorization response associated with thefirst authorization request; and, in response to the first authorizationresponse indicating at least one of a decline or a partialauthorization, the payment directory computer determining a supplementalaccount for funding the transaction. In an embodiment, a similar methodmay be performed by a point of service device.

In one embodiment, the payment directory computer facilitates a purchasetransaction by determining a payment system based upon a characteristicof a purchaser transaction device (e.g. a mobile device). For example,if the transaction device is a mobile device, the payment directorycomputer may determine a different payment system for processing thetransaction than if the transaction device is a mobile devicemanufactured by (for example) Motorola®. In one embodiment the paymentdirectory computer receives a payment request for a transaction;determines based upon the requesting device, a payment system forprocessing at least a portion of the transaction; and facilitates anauthorization request to the payment system. In an embodiment, a similarmethod may be performed by a point of service device.

In one embodiment, a purchaser transaction device to communicates with apayment directory. For example, the purchaser transaction device sends apurchase request to a POS device. The POS device creates a transactionauthorization request based upon the purchase request and sends it tothe purchaser transaction device. In an embodiment, the purchasertransaction device transmits a payment authorization message based uponthe transaction request to a payment directory service and/or paymentservice. The POS device receives a transaction approval based upon thepayment authorization message and the transaction is completed basedupon the transaction approval.

In an embodiment, the payment directory and/or payment directorycomputer may also be configured to access and/or manage limited useidentifier information. “Limited use account identifier” includesindividual accounts that are associated with a particular masteraccount. In one embodiment, a plurality (or a “pool”) of these limiteduse account numbers may be associated with a master account and thelimited use account identifiers is used by the purchasing entity topurchase goods or services. In one embodiment, each of the limited useaccount identifiers may be a transaction account identifier. Pursuant tosome embodiments, individual account identifiers may be associated witha “pre-authorization record” (or, put another way, account identifiersmay be “pre-authorized”). The term “pre-authorized” or“pre-authorization record” includes data associated with an accountidentifier which specifies the conditions in which a transactionassociated with the account will be authorized. For example, thepurchase request may include information regarding a product andmerchant and the payment directory computer may determine acorresponding limited use identifier and/or a pre-authorizedtransaction. Furthermore, the payment directory computer may managelimited use identifiers that may involve a partial shipment and/orlimited use identifiers that may involve refreshing the preauthorizationinformation. For more information regarding limited use identifiers,partial shipments, and refreshable limited use identifiers please seeU.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/355,576, filed on Jan. 16, 2009 andentitled “Authorization Refresh System and Method”, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

Method 2800, in an exemplary embodiment and with respect to FIG. 28, mayinitiate with step 2610 in a manner similar to embodiments discussedabove. The POS device may locate and gain access to a SSL Gateway (e.g.,SSL Gateway 2515). Once accessed, the POS device may communicate arequest to the SSL Gateway to locate a payment system directory (e.g.,payment system directory 2520), based on the criteria discussed abovesuch that an appropriate gateway can be determined, and facilitatecommunication between the POS device and the payment system directory,and/or to locate at least one payment system (e.g., payment system 2531and/or payment system 2532) and facilitate communication between the POSdevice and the payment system(s) while the POS device is located at theremote location (step 2820). In an exemplary embodiment, a paymentsystem directory may be located by the SSL Gateway, and method 2800 mayinclude steps 2730, 2740, 2750 similar to embodiments discussed abovewith respect to method 2700. In addition, method 2800 may include steps2660, 2670, 2682, 2683 2688, and 2690 similar to methods 2600 and 2700discussed above.

Method 2800 may include partial payment authorization being communicatedto the POS device (step 2885). In these embodiments, steps 2820, 2730,2740, 2750, 2660, 2670 2682 and 2885 may be repeated until the fullamount has been aggregately authorized (step 2688) or, after everyavailable candidate payment system has been inquired of, full paymentauthorization is unattainable and the transaction cancelled (step 2683).

In one exemplary embodiment, at least one payment system may be locatedby the SSL Gateway and communication facilitated between the POS deviceand the payment system(s) (step 2825). In these embodiments, method 2800may include steps 2660, 2670 2682, 2683, 2885, 2688 and 2690 similar toembodiments discussed above with respect to methods 2600 and 2700. Inaddition, method 2800 may include partial payment authorization beingcommunicated to the POS device (step 2885). In these embodiments, steps2820, 2660, 2670 2682, 2683, 2885, 2688 and 2690 may be repeated untilthe full amount has been aggregately authorized (step 2688) or, afterevery available candidate payment system has been queried, full paymentauthorization is unattainable and the transaction cancelled (step 2683).

It should be understood, however, that the detailed description andspecific examples, while indicating exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention, are given for purposes of illustration only and not oflimitation. Many changes and modifications within the scope of theinstant invention may be made without departing from the spirit thereof,and the invention includes all such modifications. The correspondingstructures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all elements in theclaims below are intended to include any structure, material, or actsfor performing the functions in combination with other claimed elementsas specifically claimed. The scope of the invention should be determinedby the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by theexamples given above. For example, the steps recited in any methodclaims may be executed in any order and are not limited to the orderpresented in the claims. Moreover, no element is essential to thepractice of the invention unless specifically described herein as“critical” or “essential”.

1. A method, comprising: receiving, at a payment directory computer, apayment request for a transaction; determining, by the payment directorycomputer and based upon the payment request, that the transaction shouldbe at least partially funded from a transaction account, wherein thetransaction account is determined at least partially by a rewardsprogram associated with the transaction account; determining, by thepayment directory computer and based upon the transaction account, apayment system for processing at least a portion of the transaction;determining, by the payment directory computer, a supplemental accountfor funding the transaction, wherein the determining the supplementalaccount is performed in response to a forecasted points balanceassociated with the rewards account being greater than a predeterminedthreshold, wherein the forecasted points balance is based upon theestimated effect of the transaction on a points balance associated withthe rewards account; and, facilitating, by the payment directorycomputer, an authorization request to the payment system.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein the determining the payment system comprisesquerying a payment system directory.
 3. The method of claim 2, whereinthe querying the payment system directory comprises transmitting apayment directory request to the payment system directory with at leastone selection parameter; wherein the selection parameter is associatedwith at least one of: rewards program information; an account ownerassociated with the payment request; or a merchant associated with thetransaction; and wherein the payment system directory parses the paymentdirectory request, creates a query based upon the parsed paymentdirectory request and executes the query against a payment systemdatabase.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the payment request isreceived from a point of service (POS) device.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the facilitating comprises transmitting an identification of thepayment system to a point of service (POS) device.
 6. The method ofclaim 5, wherein at least one of: the POS device sends the authorizationrequest to the payment system; or the POS device receives anauthorization response from the payment system.
 7. The method of claim1, wherein the facilitating comprises transmitting, by the paymentdirectory computer, an authorization request to the payment system,wherein the payment system transmits an authorization response to atleast one of a point of service (POS) device and the payment directorycomputer.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining that thetransaction should be funded by the transaction account comprisesdetermining based upon a predetermined rule.
 9. The method of claim 8,wherein the predetermined rule is based upon the rewards programassociated with the transaction account and at least one of the paymentrequest, a merchant system, a requesting device, a merchant whosubmitted a payment request, a purchaser transaction device attribute, atransaction amount, an account holder, a transaction account, a proxyaccount identifier, a transaction account issuer, an alternate accountassociated with a transaction account, an overdraft rule, an overdraftaccount, an acquiring financial institution, a point of sale device, apoint of service (POS) device associated with the transaction, a POSdevice attribute, a merchant associated with a POS device, a geographiclocation, a geographic location associated with the transaction, a code,a product associated with the transaction, a merchant associated withthe transaction, a date a user data input, a first budget associatedwith a first account and with budget information, a points balanceassociated with a rewards account, an expiration date associated withthe rewards program, a points balance associated with a second rewardsprogram, an expiration date associated with the rewards program, apoints balance associated with a rewards account, or an allowance. 10.The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, based upon thesupplemental account, a supplemental payment system for processing atleast a portion of the transaction.
 11. The method of claim 10, furthercomprising facilitating a supplemental authorization request to thesupplemental payment system.
 12. The method of claim 10, furthercomprising determining an authorization request amount and asupplemental authorization request amount based upon the rewardsprogram, wherein the authorization request comprises the authorizationrequest amount and the supplemental authorization request comprises thesupplemental authorization request amount.
 13. A method, comprising:transmitting, by a point of sale device, a payment request for atransaction to a payment system directory; determining, by at least oneof: the point of sale device and the payment system directory, that atleast a portion of the transaction should be funded by a transactionaccount, wherein the transaction account is determined at leastpartially by a rewards program associated with the transaction account;in response to a forecasted points balance associated with the rewardsaccount being greater than a predetermined threshold, determining thatat least a portion of the transaction should be funded by a supplementalaccount, wherein the forecasted points balance is based upon theestimated effect of the transaction on a points balance associated withthe rewards account; and receiving at least one of an identification ofa payment system from the payment system directory or an authorizationresponse from a payment system, wherein the authorization response isbased upon an authorization request sent to the payment system by thepayment system directory.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein thedetermining that at least a portion of the transaction should be fundedby a transaction account is based upon the rewards program associatedwith the transaction account and at least one of: the payment request, amerchant system, a requesting device, a merchant who submitted a paymentrequest, a purchaser transaction device attribute, a transaction amount,an account holder, a transaction account, a proxy account identifier, atransaction account issuer, an alternate account associated with atransaction account, an overdraft rule, an overdraft account, anacquiring financial institution, a point of sale device, a point ofservice (POS) device associated with the transaction, a POS deviceattribute, a merchant associated with a POS device, a geographiclocation, a geographic location associated with the transaction, a code,a product associated with the transaction, a merchant associated withthe transaction, a date a user data input, a first budget associatedwith a first account and with budget information, a points balanceassociated with a rewards account, an expiration date associated withthe rewards program, a points balance associated with a second rewardsprogram, an expiration date associated with the rewards program, apoints balance associated with a rewards account, or an allowance. 15.The method of claim 12, wherein at least one of: the authorizationrequest is transmitted via an SSL gateway; or the authorization responseis received via an SSL gateway.
 16. A tangible machine-readable mediumhaving stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, if executedby a computing device, cause the computing device to perform a methodcomprising: receiving a payment request for a transaction; determiningbased upon the payment request that the transaction should be at leastpartially funded from a transaction account, wherein the transactionaccount is determined at least partially by a rewards program associatedwith the transaction account; determining based upon the transactionaccount a payment system for processing at least a portion of thetransaction; determining a supplemental account for funding thetransaction, wherein the determining the supplemental account isperformed in response to a forecasted points balance associated with therewards account being greater than a predetermined threshold, whereinthe forecasted points balance is based upon the estimated effect of thetransaction on a points balance associated with the rewards account;and, facilitating an authorization request to the payment system.